


Voices

by kibuvitsaroos



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Anarchy, Antarctica, Blood, Blood and Injury, Deity Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Exile, Gen, Hearing Voices, Hybrids, Minor Character Death, Sleepy Boys, Swearing, The Nether (Minecraft), Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28548435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibuvitsaroos/pseuds/kibuvitsaroos
Summary: Before being exiled to the Nether, Techno was a simple potato farmer who’d left his violent days behind him. Now, after being put on trial for a crime he'd been previously pardoned from, he finds himself living among the piglins and adapting to his new surroundings. With power come the haunting voices that urge him to overstep his morals and whether Techno gives in to them or learns to tame them depends on his decisions made throughout his journey to hell and back.
Relationships: Ranboo & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 39
Kudos: 287





	1. Orphanage and the Trial

When Techno had turned up for another one of Schlatt's rendezvous, he'd expected the drunkard to ask him to join on an "adventure". What he hadn't expected was that they were going to break into an orphanage.

"Why an orphanage?" Techno had a hard time understanding. "Out of all the places to break into, you had to choose an orphanage. What do I even get out of this?" Techno attempted to get an answer out of him, but effortlessly, because Schlatt's only answer came out in a form of unintelligible mumbling as he examined every child he passed. Techno was a simple potato farmer. He had no reason helping Schlatt with... whatever he was up to. He was content with the way his life was now, except for the new government which had been reformed not too long ago. Not that it had any impact on his personal life, but for some reason, it didn't sit well with him.

Schlatt had stopped before one of the beds and stared at the child sleeping in it. It was an expression Techno had never seen Schlatt wear before. It was like he'd found a long lost treasure. There was a hint of relief, but somehow the irritation remained.

"This is the kid," Schlatt whispered in a tone that left Techno with more questions than answers. He was melancholy and furious at the same time. "This is the kid they took from me."

"Wait." Techno was dumbfounded. "You have a child? Since when? I mean I knew you had a lover, but a child?!"

Schlatt almost stopped whispering when he spoke in a louder tone, "Can you be any louder? I'm not allowed to see him, because the social services think that I'm not fit to raise him."

"I mean, you're not exactly the best person to be a good influence on a child, so I can't blame them." Schlatt didn't answer. Instead, he carefully removed the blanket and picked up the boy cradling to his bee pillow. "Why are you kidnapping that child?" Techno snapped in a panicked whisper. Lucky for them, the child was deep asleep and it seemed as if it would take a good shaking to get him to wake up.

Instead of answering his question normally, Schlatt instead said, "Let's get out of here." Although Techno was completely against this whole operation, he no longer had any other option but to go along with it. All they had to do now, was to get out.

"Put him down," said a young voice from behind them. Turning around, they found a boy not any older than Schlatt's kid standing there, holding a wooden sword. Techno even recognized the petty thief, Tommy, who'd constantly try to steal his potatoes at the market, for whom Phil would constantly need to come and apologize. For a moment, both of them stared at the blond boy, until Schlatt burst out laughing, but Techno didn't find it as amusing, because the boy's eyes were almost flaming. "I said: put him down," he repeated, gritting his teeth.

Schlatt was unable to keep his laugh back. "What's this measly little child going to do? Snitch on us?"

"If he were to do that, we'd be in trouble," Techno reminded him.

Without a warning, Tommy launched himself at Techno, aiming for his foot, but Techno stepped aside, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and lifting him up like a kitten. The child kicked in every possible direction, screaming at him to let him go. The child in Schlatt's arms moved, asking with the quietest and most innocent voice that Techno had ever heard, "Tommy?"

"Tubbo! Wake up!" Tommy yelled at him.

"What?" Tubbo's eyes then opened and he took in the scene. "What's... what's going on?" his voice wobbled.

"Run! Get away from that man! They're trying to kidnap you!"

Within seconds Tubbo escaped from Schlatt's grasp and was out of his reach, running to the other side of the room behind one of the beds. Only now Techno noticed that the other children were up and crammed up in one corner. They all looked terrified and some of them ran out of the room, saying that they'd go get their dad. Techno already knew what that meant. Now was the last time to flee.

He felt a twinge of pain in his arm and before Techno could fully comprehend what was happening, he'd dropped him the moment he'd bit his arm and kicked the child in his stomach out of reflex. He realized what he'd done the moment he saw Tommy on the ground, groaning and holding onto his stomach, his mouth covered in blood. There was also blood coming from where Tommy had bitten. What kind of a child was he? Despite all this, the stubborn brat got up although he obviously was in pain.

"Holy shit," Schlatt cackled, "I didn't think you'd have this in you."

"Forget the child. We need to leave." Techno turned around and dashed for the exit, Schlatt following him. They left the bedroom, running back through the familiar hallways which Techno for years had called home. Now, the tall walls seemed to daunt him. They'd been so close to escaping when a figure appeared in front of their only way out the moment they'd believed that they'd gotten away.

"You're not going anywhere," said a familiar voice. And it belonged to the last person that Techno wanted to face at this moment. Phil stood there, his arms crossed and dark mechanical elytra wings out in its full span. It was hard to make anything out of his ice-cold glare. He was angry, without a doubt, but Techno had no idea if Phil felt anything else. Was he disappointed? He must be.

"Techno," Phil's voice sounded so calm, but displeased nonetheless, "Why did you break into here? You even attacked one of my children."

"Phil, we had no bad intentions. My friend here just wanted to..." Techno wasn't sure how he'd planned on finishing that sentence. "Look, I didn't kick Tommy. Well, technically, I did, but I didn't do it on purpose."

"And what about your companion? I heard he tried to kidnap one of my children," Phil inquired.

"Don't blame this on me!" Schlatt was furious. "And don't even dare to call him your child."

"He's here because of your incapability to take care of him."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Schlatt had by now walked up to Phil and was holding his index finger against Phil's chest as if he was blaming him.

Phil looked down at him and said, "You're not fit to raise him."

"Alright, buddy, now you crossed the line." Schlatt's hand formed a fist and he aimed it at Phil's face, but the attack was one of the most pathetic attempts that Techno has ever seen because Phil dodged it with ease and hit him back so hard that Techno was sure that this punch must've dislocated Schlatt's jaw. Now, the man was out on the ground. Phil's gaze turned from him to Techno, who'd just stood there watching.

"Techno, why would you do this? You said that you'd moved on from your fugitive days." Phil's voice sounded sorrowful and for some reason, it broke Techno's heart.

"Phil, I had no idea what I was getting myself into."

Phil sighed, contemplating hard over something, until he said, "Well, it hurts me to result in this, but this time can't let you get off scot-free. I've forgiven you many times, but this time you truly went too far. You were a threat to my children. I hope you won't take it personally, but I'm going to give you over to the authorities."

* * *

After the events in the orphanage, Techno had been thrown into jail with Schlatt and by the looks of his getting along with the sentinels, it didn't seem to be his first time here. Techno didn't know what to make out of all of this. Was returning back to his normal lifestyle even possible after such an incident? This was quite a predicament he had gotten himself into.

He was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring into the reflection from the shattered mirror on the wall. Schlatt looked like a criminal, but Techno looked like nothing more than a mere dark-haired farmer with glasses.

"Don't fret. What's the worst they can do?" Schlatt seemed indifferent about the situation. It was as if he didn't even care about what was to come.

Techno didn't bother to answer and decided to wait for the trial. And soon the time came when the cell door was opened and they were forced to follow the guards. They were taken from prison to an entirely different building. He'd been to the courthouse before and he'd been forgiven, which led him to turn a new chapter in his life. He'd never thought that he'd ever end up on there again.

They were led into one of the rooms. They were under the surveillance of many guards, making sure that there was no way for them to escape or make any attempts. There were many other faces as well and Techno recognized only a few. Of course, Phil was there. He hadn't once looked at Techno during their time there. Then there were some locals who would buy potatoes from him at the market.

Minutes passed and not a single soul said a word. Everything was eerily quiet. The court members were the last to enter the room.

"All rise," the bailiff said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear and to which everyone stood. "The court is now in session."

Then, out of all people, Wilbur Soot entered the courtroom and said, "Please be seated."

Wilbur was the judge and Techno knew that this was going to be "fantastic".

"We're here for the arraignment of J. Schlatt and Techno Blade..." from there Wilbur kept talking about the details of the case, although Techno was sure that everyone already knew. The whole discussion seemed to go between the court members and Techno with Schlatt had been left out completely. The only thing that they could do for now was to stay silent and listen.

Techno looked around and asked Schlatt, "Do we even have a lawyer?"

"Yeah, I found some guy. He seemed pretty professional, but I don't see him. I'm sure he's coming."

There was a sound of hammer knocking and Wilbur asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Uhm, yeah. Our lawyer doesn't seem to be present," Techno said.

"Your lawyer is not present? Who is he?"

"I think his name was George," Schlatt didn't sound confident at all.

"George Found?" The prosecutor's mouth turned into a smile. "He doesn't live up to his name. He's probably sleeping right now."

"Huh?" Techno was confused.

"Mr. Minecraft will now take the stand," Wilbur said and Phil went behind the podium.

Techno protested, "Wait, this seems kind of unfair—"

The reverberation of the hammer being hit on the table interrupted him and Wilbur repeated, "Mr. Minecraft will now take the stand." He turned back to Phil. "Please state your name for the court."

"Philza Minecraft."

"Tell us about the night of the break-in."

Phil started with his usual cheerful tone, "My wife and I were sleeping in our bedroom, when some of the kids came running in and told about two old men in their bedroom. My wife went to get help and I headed to the children's bedroom. When I got there, I found one of the children hurt and covered in blood. For the record, it wasn't his. He told me that the men had made a run for it and I ran around in search of the burglars and found them at the entrance of the orphanage. When I confronted them, I recognized one of them: Techno Blade. The other one, Mr. Schlatt, I'd never met before and I got into a slight fight with him. Techno, however, made no attempt on attacking me."

"You told us about the injured child. What can you tell us about him?" Wilbur inquired.

"You mean Tommy? He told me that Schlatt had tried to kidnap Tubbo and then he attacked Techno."

"Can you state their full names?"

"Tommy Innit and we don't know much about Tubbo; he's been very quiet about himself. We just found him on the side of the road and brought him in, because he said he had nowhere to go."

"That's bullshit," Schlatt interrupted, "You took him away from me!"

Wilbur was displeased. "Mr. Schlatt, are you related to Tubbo?"

"Yes, of course I fucking am. He's my son."

"Your Honor, I think we're getting a bit off topic," said one of the court members.

"Right, back to the statement. Mr. Schlatt will get to speak when it's his turn to make a statement. Mr. Minecraft, you mentioned that Tommy attacked Mr. Blade. Can you fill us in with the details?"

"I'm afraid I don't have much to say since I wasn't there myself, but as much as I understood, Schlatt took Tubbo, Tommy attacked Techno and Techno kicked Tommy really bad while Tubbo got away from Schlatt."

Wilbur nodded and dismissed Phil, asking Schlatt to br the next one to take the stand, which he did with no problem. From there, the same story followed, just from Schlatt's point of view and he was inquired a lot about his son and listening to his case, it seemed as if he had another one coming soon, involving Tubbo's custody.

After he was done, Wilbur asked Techno to take the stand. Hesitantly, he stood and made his way to the podium with three of the guards escorting him. There were so many eyes, so many people looking at him. He didn't deal with these kinds of situations well and just hoped that he wouldn't say anything that would ruin his chances of getting back to his normal life.

"Please state your name for the record."

"Techno Blade."

"I'm sure you have no objections regarding Mr. Minecraft's and Mr. Schlatt's statements."

"No, Your Honor." It was weird to call him that after years of growing up together. He wouldn't even call him that if he had the choice, he just didn't want a verdict that would ruin his peaceful life.

"Let's get straight to the topic of the fight with Tommy Innit. Is it true that you attacked him?"

"Well, actually, he attacked me," Techno corrected his error.

"But you did kick him," Wilbur didn't ask, but stated matter-of-factly.

"Your Honor, I drop kicked that child in self-defense," Techno admitted. Wilbur raised an eyebrow and stared at him in disbelief. "You gotta believe me."

Wilbur didn't seem to consider this as a valid argument and took out a folder where he shuffled between papers, examining them, and discussing with the rest of the court. "Mr. Blade, there's a dismissed case of "world domination" that I think we should take into consideration."

Techno hadn't even thought that they might bring that up. "What does that have to do with kicking the orphan? That's ancient history!"

"That happened last month."

"Same difference!" Techno said more loudly than he'd intended. Calming down a bit, he added, "But you got to admit, it was kind of hilarious."

"Techno, I don't see how overthrowing a government is hilarious."

"Well, I guess you have a bad sense of humor then."

"Techno, I'm being serious!"

"So am I!"

"Do you remember our agreement from your last trial?"

"Uhm... Which part?"

"We were lenient and dismissed the case with a warning that if you were to appear in court once more, we'd need to result in extreme measures and take your past crimes into consideration. You'd stated that there'd be no need for that because you promised to become a decent and honest citizen."

"Ah, yes. Well, let me tell you that that part of the agreement is actually coming along really well."

"So I've heard." Wilbur looked down at the papers once more and announced, "I think that we've heard enough from you." Wilbur then turned to the rest of the court members and sent them to make the verdict. It didn't take long for them to return with new papers. "You may read the verdict," said Wilbur.

"The jury has unanimously come to an agreement that J. Schlatt is guilty of break and entering and attempted kidnapping, but should be pardoned due to his complications of heart disease."

"Eh?" Techno was shocked and turned to look at his partner in crime, who was smirking.

"We have also unanimously come to a decision that Techno Blade is guilty of break and entering and attempted kidnapping and of all the other crimes committed in the span of his life and should be unpardoned from his previous verdicts."

"So say you all?" Wilbur asked the court.

"Yes, Your Honor."

Techno stood from where he'd been sitting. "Wilbur, this seems unfair since he was the one who had planned on kidnapping that child. I had nothing to do with assisting him. Look at him, he's literally smiling right now! He knew he was going to get away with it."

"The court has unanimously agreed that although you were not directly at fault for the attempted kidnapping, you are a threat not only to people around you but to the whole society, considering your previous uprisings." Wilbur picked up the hammer. "I declare that Techno Blade is hereby guilty not of being an involuntary accomplice to an attempted kidnapping but of previously attempted warfare and will be exiled to the Nether for the rest of his days."

And with that, the hammer landed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I've never written a fic before, I'm not sure how much of the story will make sense or where it's even heading, because I'm trying to write this in one go, but we'll see. I'd also like to clarify a couple of things. Firstly, I'm not a native speaker of English, so if there are any grammar mistakes or words used in the wrong context (which I'm sure there are), just bear with me. Secondly, I imagined the events at the beginning of the story to take place in (medieval) France, although I'm not sure if I'll ever actually mention it in the story, but just so you know. I was inspired to write this fic when I first heard "Voices" by Hurts and it was around the time when Technoblade’s stream chat being the "blood-demanding voices" became canon. I've also been inspired by many other songs and by some of the events from Dream SMP and SMPEarth.


	2. One-way Trip to Hell

For a long while, Techno thought that Wilbur had over-exaggerated and wasn't actually planning on banishing him to the Nether, but when the day arrived for him to leave, the realization hit him like a brick. Everyone had gathered at the portal to witness the historical moment.

He kept his head down the whole walk to the portal. Peeking from the corner of his eye, he noticed only judgmental faces. He'd stopped walking when he saw Phil with his wife, his face expressionless, but eyes hiding sadness. Around him were many children and even Tommy and Tubbo had come to watch. They were so young, probably around seven or nine years old. One of the guards pushed him from the back to keep him walking.

"Keep walking, buddy," said a familiar voice.

"Skeppy?" Techno turned to look at one of the guards. Only now he began to make the similarities to the face from a couple of years ago. He'd changed, without a doubt, but still was the shortest of the group. "How'd a rascal like you end up working for the authorities?"

"Funny story, actually, but it's kind of a long one." Skeppy laughed.

"I'm all ears," Techno said.

He and Skeppy went way back, often causing trouble around the town. It's been so long since he last saw or spoke to him. It'd happened so naturally when they lost touch and went their separate paths. He began to regret not reaching out to him while he had the time.

"Hey, no talking!" said the other guard's squeaky voice. That was a voice that Techno could never forget. Bad did seem innocent and kind but rarely showed what kind of a demon he really was. Having realized that he was being escorted by Bad himself, Techno decided to no longer utter a word.

When they'd made it in front of the portal, he'd expected that he'd be thrown into the portal with no warning, but having seen it, he realized that it hadn't even been lighted.

Suddenly, there was lots of cheering, and looking around, he saw Wilbur take his place behind a podium, higher than everyone else. "My fellow citizens," he started in his classic leader-speech-voice.

"Oh no," Techno said more to himself. He should've known that his scholar of a brother had a speech prepared.

"We have gathered here today to witness the historical moment of Techno Blade's exile and banishment from our glorious country. At last, we will no longer need to fret for his rebellions and uprisings, his terrors and attempts of bringing down the government. At long last, we can live in peace and harmony. And now, without further ado, the moment we've been all waiting for."

Wilbur turned to look at Techno from the corner of his eye, smirking. He'd been waiting for this. He'd been waiting for a long time to get rid of him. There was no remorse in those eyes. Only delightfulness. Techno stared back at him in complete hatred.

Without breaking eye contact, Wilbur announced, "Light the portal."

Given the command, Bad took out flint and steel, and as soon as the sparks touched the obsidian frame, a purple layer of wobbly glass appeared. Techno heard people behind him awe and cheer, clap and whistle. For Techno, this was nothing to celebrate over. Looking back once again, there were few who didn't go along with the cheering.

Phil, his wife, and the orphans watched in silence and when Phil noticed that Techno was looking at him, he gave him an apologetic look, which Techno returned with a forgiving smile. He was just looking out for his children which Techno supposed was understandable. Tommy, who was clinging on to Phil's coat and still had his wooden sword with him, looked terrified. He looked up and said something to Phil and he leaned down a little and said something back, after what Tommy turned back to face Techno and waved at him. Techno would've perhaps even waved back, but didn't have the energy to do so.

Looking around more, there were many faces he recognized from the market. Niki and Puffy, the young women who owned the flower booth, were there with Fundy the mechanic and inventor. Then there was Purpled with Sam and Ant, who were soon joined by Karl and Quackity. Techno had never really thought about how many people he actually knew.

Then there was something out of place that he hadn't noticed before and which was now bothering him. Further away, on the rooftops, were cloaked figures with hoods over their heads, just standing there and observing. One of them wore what Techno supposed was a mask, the other one had goggles and the only one whose face was visible was wearing a headband. No one else saw them, since all the eyes were on Techno. Looking back at Wilbur, he was busy with his performance, or as that theatre kid often liked to call it. Right now, ominous people like that would be the least of his concerns.

"Before we send you over, is there anything you wish to say? Or anything you would like to take with you?" Wilbur asked much to Techno's surprise. Techno hadn't expected Wilbur to be considerate even during his moments of glory.

"Wait? I can make a statement?" he inquired, to which Wilbur answered with a simple nod. If these were going to his final words the world would hear, then he might as well make the most of it. What was the worst they could do? They were already planning on throwing him to literal hell. "If you thought that banishing me solves anything, then you're sorely mistaken. You've no idea what awaits ahead. And I can tell you that much, Wilbur, that it's nothing good. Your nation won't stand for long. Trust me, I know it won't. Someone will always bring it down." Techno then turned his gaze upwards, where the cloaked men stood. The middle one turned and disappeared and so did the other two, following his lead.

There was a hint both of a smile and irritation at the tip of Wilbur's mouth. He raised his hand as if dismissing Techno and said, "Send him away."

Before Techno could comprehend what was happening, he'd been pushed through the purple liquid and everything in his vision began to stretch and turn. A sound of static in his head got louder every passing second and abruptly, everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter turned out WAY shorter than I'd planned, but I assure you that the next one will be longer. Also, because I hate having a schedule and deadlines, I've decided to post new chapters whenever I feel like they're ready, so the updates will be arbitrary.


	3. Those Were the Days

When Techno came to, he felt like he was melting. At first, he had no idea why it was so hot and stuffy, but when he remembered everything that's happened up to this point, he looked down at his sweaty clothes that'd by now had stuck to his skin and groaned. His glasses were foggy and burning from where it touched his skin, making him take them off and drop them. He had a hard time focusing on his surroundings, but if he were to stay in the nether for the rest of his life, it was going to be difficult to get used to wearing glasses; he'd rather have it slightly blurry.

Looking behind him, the obsidian portal was now inactive and the top had collapsed into the lava lake.

"Well, great," he muttered to himself and got up. Despite his blurry vision, he looked around more thoroughly at the red rocky ground that covered every part of the Underworld and all of the lava that surrounded him. "So this is the Nether."

Everything was calm and quiet. He'd only read about this place from books, but there hadn't been anything conclusive or remotely useful. There never really were people who wanted to come here and do more thorough research. He couldn't blame then; he'd just gotten here and he already felt like he was dying.

He heard oinking not too far from him and he noticed creatures that were standing like humans, but with pig heads. They were all looking at Techno and all of them had either swords or crossbows. And they were all angry. Techno had to make a run for it and lose them. Fast. He was already feeling tired from the heat and if he were to use all of his stamina up, he was going to be caught no matter what.

No matter how far he ran or where he hid, they always found him. Now, he'd ended up camping on a steep mountain with dozens of piglins after him. There were nuggets of gold in the netherrack, but he had no tools and wasn't sure how he was going to get some. Or if obtaining them was even going to be an option. Worrying about that would probably be trivial since he was hungering. What were even the possible food sources here? Looking down, there was definitely meat, but eating them seemed kind of weird, despite the fact that they were simply a mutation of a pig. But then again, if it was the only way for him to survive, he wouldn't hesitate.

Looking down again, the piglings hadn't calmed down a bit and were still after him. He came up with an idea that would most likely result in his death, but it was either die hiding or die fighting.

Choosing for the latter, he lunged down on one of the piglins and took his sword, which's hilt burnt him and made him hitch a breath, but pressing the pain down, he focused on the rest of the piglins who were all around him. He had underestimated their strength, but it was too late to flee now. He took them down, one by one, all while his hand was burning, head spinning, vision foggy and breathing uneven. He was sure of his demise right there, no matter how much he hated the thought of it.

Eventually, each and every one of them was lifeless on the ground. In a moment of victory and relief, he fell on his knees and then lied down, barely able to breathe. After a while of resting, he slowly crawled closer to one of the piglins and scoured through his satchel in search of anything useful. The first bag turned out to be useless, so did the second and third and fourth. After a while, he found something which he had never expected to find. A bottle of water.

It all went down his throat in a matter of seconds. He wouldn't have ever believed that the feeling of water touching his dry tongue would be the best feeling ever. Where did the piglins even get this? As far as he knew, there were no water sources. And this one bottle alone wasn't enough to keep him going for long.

Looking around for more, he found another bottle, but it had an amber-colored liquid inside. It didn't smell bad, but there was something weird about it. If he was never going to try it, then he was never going to find out if it was safe.

Best case scenario: he's found something drinkable.

Worst case scenario: he'll die.

If he was going to die anyway, he might as well go for it. Hesitantly, he took a small draft and waited for his demise, but nothing seemed to happen, so he drank more. When he'd emptied the bottle, he felt refreshed and somewhat cooler. The heat remained, but it no longer melted him. What had he just drunk? Whatever it was, he gathered all of it into the satchel he'd taken from one of the piglins. Although there wasn't much of that potion, he was going to have to get through with any resources he could get his hands on. For the first time in his life, he had an appreciation for anything that would help him stay alive. Before being exiled, food and water seemed so trivial that he had never truly valued them.

Setting off, he walked a long while in one direction, passing lava lakes and lava waterfalls. It was quite a scenery, but somewhat frightening. Observing the other creatures, they all seemed to have immunity towards fire and lava.

Over time he noticed that the drink's effect was going over and he was getting thirsty again, so he drank some more. He felt cooled off once more and as his journey continued, he realized that he'd need to consume it every once in a while. Trying to remember what he'd read years ago from a potion brewing guide, he only had one guess: fire resistance potion. If he was correct, then this was going to become his key to survival.

Techno was glad for the golden sword he'd stolen from one of the piglins, although carrying it was a pain. At times, there were still piglins who came across him and attacked, but slowly Techno began to notice a pattern in their way of fighting. And they always had loot on them. He'd even gotten a crossbow and some arrows, but for now, he wasn't going to use the crossbow before he figured out how to use it efficiently.

Techno had given up on finding anything besides netherrack, but a moment later he saw trees in the distance. "Finally!" he said out loud and made his way at a steady pace so he wouldn't lose any more of his stamina than he had already lost.

When he reached the crimson forest, he came to a realization that the trees were actually enormous fungi. At least the stem was easy to obtain and from there he was able to make himself some tools, although they were very primitive and inefficient. At least the blackstone he'd gotten from the piglins was good enough material for now.

There was a sound and when he turned to look, an enormous hog attacked and launched Techno against a stem. Before he could open his eyes, the hoglin was already heading his way again and Techno was ready to roll out of the way, but for some reason, the hoglin stopped as if something had repelled it.

"What? Aren't you going to attack me?" Techno was confused.

The hoglin did look like he wanted to kill him but was simply unable to approach. Techno looked around and for a while, he was unable to figure out the source of whatever was keeping it away, until he noticed a warped fungus that stood out from the rest of the crimson fungi. As soon as he picked it up, the hoglin backed away more.

"Wait, you don't like _this_?" Techno took a stop forward, holding the fungus out, and watched as the hoglin tried to keep distance between them. For the first time during his time in the Nether, Techno felt superior.

Then, he heard his stomach growl and remembered that he hadn't eaten for quite a while now. Looking between the hoglin and the fungus, he got an idea. Trapping and killing the hoglin turned out to be harder than he expected, but at least he got some pork which he grilled over an open fire and then consumed like he'd never eaten food before.

He decided to camp in the forest with the hopes that the fungus will keep the unwanted trouble away. For the first time during his time in the Nether, he felt like he might even have a chance of surviving this hell.

* * *

Techno wasn't sure whether to feel glad or not when he woke. There had been no ambushes during his time asleep and all of his stuff was still there. However, the absence of day and night really messed with his mental clock. And the feeling of wearing sweaty and dirty clothes made him feel extremely filthy. His linen long-sleeved shirt was sticking to his skin and moving around in it felt disgusting. Aside from that, the shirt had been shredded and bloodstained by fighting the piglins.

There wasn't much left to do in the crimson forest, so he set off to find any other biomes that could come in use for him. If there was at least one unique biome, then there had to be more of them in the Nether.

With that thought, he kept on traveling with his sleep schedule being the only way for him to roughly estimate time. Each day he trekked deeper into the Nether and during good days he'd find a new biome and learn more about the wilderness and the creatures of the Underworld. He'd learned that mining the gold angers the piglins, but once given to them for bartering, they calm down and give various stuff in return, sometimes even giving fire resistance potions, which really came in handy. He'd learned that gold was useful to keep around because it works perfectly as a distraction. At least he no longer needed to fight them.

He wasn't sure for how long he'd traveled like this, but at some point, he came across the remnants of something that probably used to be a bastion. Upon entering, he'd expected it to be empty, but out of nowhere a pigling with a golden axe attacked him. This one was brutally stronger from the ones that Techno had come across so far. He tried to take out the gold, but not even that seemed to work on the piglin. Realizing that this fight was not in his favor at all, he ran, passing many other piglins who were now after him.

He took a random direction and kept running. He went over a bride that had been built over lava and he found himself in an enormous room. The drop from where he was standing to the floor below would most likely break some of his bones and maybe even kill him. Behind him, the piglins were approaching him and outnumbered him. His only option was going down.

Noticing the dents and holes in the wall, he decided to use them in his favor to escape. He jumped and almost missed his landing, making his heart beat faster. One wrong step and it would be a long fall to his death. Having gathered himself a little, he jumped down on the next platform, this time with stable footing. Slowly, drop by drop, he got down. There was a way out on the other side, so he was going to use that.

He made it safely on the bridge and was ready to rush out, but noticed a chest right below the bridge and well, if he'd already come so far, he might as well loot a little. Jumping down, there was a piglin brute guarding it, immediately attacking Techno. He got a couple of hits on him and the brute fell into the lava, although the lava wouldn't burn him and it would just slow him down, but that was enough time for Techno to loot.

Around the chest was lots of gold, but he had no way of taking all of it with him. Besides, it would only make him rich back in the Overworld, to where he would probably never return. Opening the chest, the first thing he saw was a diamond sword. He dropped his golden one immediately and picked up the diamond one. At that moment, the brute was climbing out of the lava and Techno put it through the brute's chest, making him fall back first into the lava. This time, he remained there.

Continuing with looting the chest, he found gold ingots, netherite ingots, arrows, and much more stuff. But what caught his eye, was the golden crown with jewels of various colors on it. He wasn't sure whether it would be the right thing to do to take and even if he did, it didn't seem to benefit him in any way, but something inside him told him to grab it. It was impossible to resist the temptation. He held it in his hands for a long while, inspecting every side of it. Carefully, he placed it on his head and let it rest there, making him feel almighty. Unstoppable. Immortal.

And then it hurt. A twinge of pain in his head, like someone had put a knife through it. No, like the knife was inside his head.

 _KING_ , echoed a distant voice. He turned around, looking for the source, but there was no one else besides him and the piglins.

_KING_

_KING_

_KING_ , the voices cheered disorderly.

"Who's there?" Techno yelled, waiting for an answer, but the voices remained the same.

_KING_

_KING OF THE PIGS_

_KING OF THE NETHER_

_WORLD CONQUEROR_

_EMPEROR_

_SERVANT OF THE BLOOD GOD_

Whatever those voices were, Techno would have put up with them for now. But who was the king that they were talking about? Were they talking about him? The only reason why it would be him was because of the crown, but he refused to believe that wearing a crown that had been discarded in a chest would make a man a king, but he had to admit that he liked the sound of that.

"King of the Nether," Techno tested the sound of it, liking it even more each time he repeated it.

He was the only human here, so he might as well make the most of it. He hadn't thought about it until now, but no law was valid in this realm. All the new rules that Wilbur had set up in the Overworld, none of them mattered in the Underworld.

He climbed back up on the small bridge and saw a couple of piglins heading in his way. He took out his sword and was ready to defend himself, but the piglins just stopped before him and stared at him. Looking around, the rest of the piglins had also stopped being hostile.

This could be his kingdom. It will be his new home. Is this where he belonged? Yes, of course it was. It will take some time to adapt, but he was going to live on. He wouldn't let this be his end.

Happy with his decision, Techno went to explore the bastion but had to stop soon because he was tired and this place was like a maze. The bastion had been built mostly underground, so it was dark down there well, the only source of light being lava.

He found one of the rooms for himself to use while he was resting. He blocked off the entrance in case some piglin decided to attack him; there was still a lot he didn't understand about them and they couldn't be completely trusted.

During his little stay in the room, he sat down and looked through the stuff he'd gathered on him so far. He picked up the crossbow and loaded an arrow on it, which turned out to be more difficult than it first seemed. He'd launched it before he was even ready for it and he startled as the arrow hit the blackstone wall across the room. Then there was the diamond sword. He'd some experience with sword fighting but hadn't even touched a sword since the day he'd decided to become a potato farmer and put his violent days behind him. He reminded himself of the first time he'd seen Phil fight. That was the first time when he didn't see him as an old man who would take care of parentless children but as a brave and undefeatable warrior. Techno did feel intimidated by his cold expression, but this was the moment he knew what kind of a person he wanted to be seen as. Phil was a good teacher. Although he could've killed a man with no problem, it was the one thing he never did and also forbade Techno from doing. Phil had an appreciation for life and knew how to keep it.

Thinking back, most of his combat skills developed when he'd started fighting in the pits underground. It was a good way of making an income, although he did use prohibited substances that would boost his chances of winning. That's where his road to glory began as more and more people began to know the name "The Blade". Phil found out soon enough about the matches and put an end to it.

"I wonder how Phil is doing," Techno wondered as he drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this chapter DAYS ago, but never got the chance to post it (thanks a lot research project which I need to do in order to graduate), but here it is. Anyway, since this is my last day of winter break and tomorrow I need to go back to school, I'm not sure when I'm able to finish and post the next chapter, but I definitely don't want to leave it hanging and I'm eager to continue writing this story. Also, just a random question, but have you ever been to sauna? Or at least heard of it? I'm not expecting any answers; I just want you to know that this is what I kind of imagine hell to be like since the average temperature in a sauna is around 80-100 °C (176-212 °F) (at least from where I'm from). Just a fun fact for you to know.


	4. Maverick

"I still don't understand why it was necessary," Phil repeated himself once more, hoping to get a proper answer this time.

"He was an obstacle," Wilbur muttered as he paced forth and back in the middle of the room. "I had to get him out of the way."

Phil was leaning against the cabinet's door, watching Wilbur's every step. "He had no bad intentions. You saw it yourself. You saw it in his eyes: he meant no harm. It was Schlatt who got him into this mess. And you let Schlatt off scot-free!"

"Shut up," Wilbur said like Phil's talking was a distraction.

"He became a farmer for God's sake!"

"Shut up, I'm thinking!" Wilbur ignored him completely, his hands clasped together in front of his mouth.

Phil couldn't understand where it all had gone wrong. Wilbur and Techno had always been two sides of the same coin. Both of their goals were to gain freedom, but their ways of achieving it were polar opposites. Ever since they were both kids, they never really played together or hung out, but whenever they had to express their thoughts, they were, most of the time, on the same wavelength.

Until recently they'd gotten along fairly well. The whole operation of a revolution and losing the monarchy was Wilbur's idea, but Techno joined in just because he thought it was for a good cause. When Techno realized that Wilbur had planned on converting it into a democratic country, he started a rebellion against him. Fortunately, all was resolved with negotiations before Techno could actually start a new war and he had been pardoned. Until recently.

Phil let out a deep sigh. "Will, you do realize that you made yourself another enemy."

Wilbur stopped in his tracks, turning to face Phil for the first time during this whole conversation. "It's been five weeks since his exile. He's been in the Nether for five weeks! We sent him there with no food, water or tools. There's no way that he's still alive."

"Techno can be stubborn when it comes to survival. He's clever beyond both my and your understanding and you out of all people should know that." That made Wilbur go completely silent. He looked as though he didn't want to believe it, but knew it was the truth. "Will, I think that you should pardon him and let him return. I'm worried about him. Searching for him becomes harder by day. Who knows how far he has traversed since he can't be found around the portal at all."

"Wait, you went to the Nether again?" asked Wilbur disappointedly, because the last time it came up in their conversation, Wilbur had stated clearly that he didn't want Phil looking for Techno. But that wasn't going to stop Phil.

"Of course I did! I can't just leave him there. He's as much of a son to me as you are."

"Even if you are looking for his body, there's a high chance you won't find it. He could be deep under a lava lake and you're just wasting your time."

"Techno wouldn't let himself die in such a senseless manner. I know he's found a way to live. It's possible to survive in there because I've been to the Nether many more times than you can imagine, Will. Hell, he could perhaps find a way out of his own if he wanted to. I bet he's even willing to break the laws of space and time just to get his way. Maybe even face God himself."

Wilbur's face reflected horror because he hadn't considered it at all. New portals can always be made, even without water. "That bloody maverick." Wilbur sat down on the window sill and looked outside, completely lost in his own thoughts. Phil could see that there was so much on his mind, although he never spoke of it. "You said that you went to the Nether. Were there no traces of him?"

Phil's arms dropped from his usual crossed position and his hands fell into his pockets, where he'd pocketed the glasses with a crack going through one of the lenses. "None."

"What about the portal?"

"Still collapsed and inactive. Rebuilding it would be difficult and a waste of resources and time."

Whatever was going through Wilbur's mind, he didn't show it nad wasn't planning on talking about it to Phil.

There was knocking on the door on which Phil had been leaning on and he stepped away as Wilbur gave the permission to enter. It was Eret.

What Phil couldn't get a grasp of was why Eret, the former King, was willing to work for Wilbur after he'd been overthrown by him. Wilbur had practically manipulated and blackmailed him into losing monarchy and reforming this kingdom into a democratic country. To Phil, Eret didn't seem trustworthy and could probably rise up against Wilbur's power. Whatever Wilbur was doing, he was playing a dangerous game.

"And what brings you here?"

Eret coughed before he started. "Wilbur, I know that we haven't been on the best of terms and what I'm about to say to next you might not seriously, which is understandable, but there have been reports of revolutionaries planning against you. Or that's at least what I've heard."

"Revolutionaries?" Wilbur's tone was overtaken by fury. "Why would anyone want to start another revolution? I've created a paradise where everyone is equal and liberated! Can't they understand that I'm doing this for their own good?" Wilbur pushed himself away from the window and made his way towards Eret.

"You know that I strongly disagree with you," Eret said without any hesitation.

"Careful, Eret. I suggest you don't speak your mind," Phil mumbled under his breath, loud enough for him to hear. Eret looked back at Phil, clearly displeased that even Phil, a mere children's caretaker, had more authority over him.

"How much do we know about the rebels?" Wilbur changed the topic.

"The matter is still being looked into since it was just a gossip heard from a local bar. It's probably nothing, but better safe than sorry. Just thought that I should let you know."

Wilbur wasn't satisfied with the answer. "If you have nothing else to say, you're free to leave."

Eret didn't say a thing as he turned and walked out of the room, closing the doors with a slam.

"You're walking on thin ice, Will," Phil didn't hesitate to tell the truth. "One day he's going to backstab you."

"Do you think I don't know that? I can't just throw him away. The people already think that I'm a tyrant and Eret is the key to keeping them on my side."

Wilbur looked distracted. Phil could see it in his eyes that he knew he was screwed. Looking at him now, all grown up, it was hard to see the innocent boy who had dreamed of emancipating the people of this country and creating a new nation. Back then, Phil had simply ignored those thoughts of his because not for a moment he believed that one day Wilbur would actually bring down Eret's kingdom just because of his ideologies.

"Do you really think that Techno survived?" Wilbur's voice was quiet but steady.

"Of course," Phil refused to believe otherwise.

"You know, if it had been me who was thrown in the Nether, I probably wouldn't have lasted a day. I don't know how he does it, but it's terrifying. The way his mind works, it's like he's not even a human being to begin with."

"So you banished him because you were afraid of his capabilities?" Phil finally felt like they were getting somewhere with this conversation.

"I suppose that's the reason why."

* * *

It was past midnight and Quackity still felt like he could stay up all night, but both he and Karl had work in the morning and he needed to get at least some sleep.

"Sorry for keeping you up," Quackity apologized as he looked into the pitch dark sky.

"It's alright. I had fun," Karl assured him. "See you tomorrow then?"

"You know where to find me."

Quackity watched Karl leave and turned to go home. Although it was dark, he wasn't thinking about any dangers, until a hand suddenly covered his mouth and he was pulled into an alley. As soon as the stranger let go of him, he scrambled away until he hit the brick wall. He wasn't able to have a good look at the person, but it was a man with a freaky smiling face and a cloak.

"There's something I need you to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one turned out to be shorter again (I’m beginning to see a pattern that I’m not so sure I like). This story won't be just from Techno's POV, because there's so much more I'd planned on happening and it's kind of challenging to explain the events from someone's POV who's not even around the other characters most of the story. Also, I’ve never been good at showing appreciation (and responding/talking to people), but you have no idea how shocked I’m to see that there are at least some people who find my story interesting. Even though 50 kudos and 450 hits don't seem like big numbers, you have no idea how mind-blowing it is for me. This is like three times more people than I expected! Long story short: the chapter is short, I'm bad at writing and grateful for anyone who has enjoyed the story so far!


	5. Withered Away

Although Techno had lost his glasses, his eyesight was getting better with every passing day, which he supposed was a good thing. Over the few days, he's learned a lot more about the piglins. Firstly, there are two types of them: neutral and brutes. The neutral ones didn't seem to care about him whenever he had gold, but the brutes would attack nonetheless.

There was this new biome which was called soul sand valley, if Techno could remember correctly. He had gone there only once and hadn't bothered on returning, since walking there was extremely difficult with his boots often getting stuck in the soul sand. Besides, the screaming-face-like shapes were eerily bothering.

He'd also found a volcanic biome not too far from the bastion where he could mostly find basalt, which is why he decided to refer to it as basalt deltas. At first, he'd thought that it was snowing there, but he'd soon realized that it was ash.

Fortunately for Techno, he came across some mushrooms that he scalded over an open fire in case they were poisonous and was able to make some mushroom stew out of them. After discovering the alternative food source, he'd stopped eating pork chops. It just didn't seem fair for the piglins.

He'd also made himself a set of netherite armor and tools from all the diamond armor and netherite ingots he'd found from the chests because netherite was sturdier, lava resistant and lasted longer.

Now that he felt more protected, he was confident enough to go and check out the fortress that he'd seen from afar during one of his treks. He was fully prepared, but there was one thing he was still missing in case something would go wrong.

"Alright." He stopped one of the piglins in their steps and handed him a golden ingot. "I need ender pearls." The piglin just looked at him in utter confusion and handed him gravel. "This isn't what I asked for, but I guess I'll have to take it. I need pearls, though." He gave another ingot and waited until he was given a water bottle. After another dozen useless bartering deals, he was finally given what he needed and could be on his way.

When he made it to the fortress, there were a few dark skeletons with swords patrolling. All he had to do was avoid the skeletons, find nether wart and some blazes, get the rods and get out of here.

It didn't take long to locate the blazes and while killing them he was glad for the fire resistance because otherwise he would've already burned to death. They were annoying to kill since they kept flying away and when Techno had collected until his satchel could fit no more, he decided that it was time to head back.

As he turned around, there were two people blocking his way, one of them extremely short and the other too tall. The shorter one he knew: Quackity. The other one he'd never seen before. He didn't even look human, but Techno had seen enough weirdness during his time in exile, so it didn't really shock him. The taller one just stood there and wrote something into his little notebook.

"So it's true. You're alive," Quackity said in disdain, although his eyes still expressed a hint of disbelief. "Man, what happened to you? You look horrible."

"Glad to see you too," Techno answered sarcastically. "And what do you mean what happened? Have you ever tried living in hell? It's horrible!"

"You're..." His words died and after a moment of silence waiting for him to find the right words, he dropped the sentence entirely. "When I was told that you're alive, I thought they were joking, but you're here, standing in front of me. Alive and breathing."

"Is there a reason why you're here?" Techno asked with annoyance. He'd always thought that coming across another human would make him glad and relieved. But it didn't. Instead, there was hatred. And more of it than he could put into words.

 _BLOOD_ , said the voices.

_HERE FOR BLOOD_

That's the moment when he saw the axe in his hand and he already had a guess, which Quackity confirmed.

"They want you dead," was all he said when he launched himself at Techno, who'd barely gotten his sword out at the last second. His fighting was aggressive and sloppy, making him easy to read. When Techno got a hit on him, Quackity was even more furious and his speed increased, a little too fast for Techno to keep up. It'd been a long while since he had a proper fight and realized that he was a little out of shape.

His belligerent movement made Techno drop his weapon and back away until he'd lost complete perception of his surroundings and with the wrong step, he was against the railing of the bridge, the drop to lava hundreds of meters away. In a moment of distraction, when Techno tried to get a better sense of his surroundings, Quackity stormed towards him and pushed him over.

As he was falling, he could hear Quackity's cheering, but when Techno fell in the lava and didn't feel it burning him, he knew that the fight wasn't over. In a rush, he found an ender pearl from his satchel and threw it high up. He could've escaped and let them believe he was dead, but there were now questions to which wanted to know the answers to.

Suddenly, he'd been teleported back on the bridge and saw Quackity still screaming in "victory" while the taller one just stood there and watched Techno without uttering a single word. As fast as he could, he picked up his sword from where he'd dropped it and ran towards Quackity, who heard the steps and turned around a moment too late, barely dodging Techno's attempt at slicing his head in half.

_YES_

_BLOOD_

Quackity screamed and fell on his knees as he held onto his long and deep bleeding scar going across his face. Although he used his hand to cover it, Techno could still see the damage he'd done. The heat probably wasn't making the pain any less bearable, thinking back on his own experience.

_WE WANT MORE BLOOD_

"Who sent you?" Techno demanded.

_BLOOD_

Quackity was now panting heavily. "You think I'm a snitch? Fuck you!" He spitted in Techno's face.

_MORE BLOOD_

Techno raised his sword and put it through Quackity's thigh, making him agonize in pain even more.

_YES_

_END HIM_

_BLOOD_

_BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD_

"Who. Sent you?" Techno repeated himself while gritting his teeth, slowly pressing and turning the sword deeper into Quackity's thigh, but he stayed silent, just screaming in pain until Techno felt something break and Quackity yielded.

"I don't know! I don't know! He was weird, wore a cloak. He sent me here and said that if I'm unable to kill you then he'll never let me leave this hell."

_LIAR_

Techno pushed the voices aside and demanded, "Didn't you see his face?"

"It was weird, I tell you. I think he had a mask. With a smile on it. But it looked so real."

_LIAR_

_KILL_

_KILL HIM_

Hesitant, he pulled the sword out and stepped away. "Quackity, I'm not sure who that was, but I can help you. If you come with me, I can make you healing potions."

"Do you think I trust your witchcraft?" Quackity snapped.

"Do you have any other choice?" Techno bickered back. "Look, I don't know who that man is, but if you and your... friend over there," they both turned to look at the tall guy who'd just stood there the whole time, "join me, we could find a way."

For a moment Techno thought that he'd gotten him on his side, but then Quackity began to laugh out of nowhere. "I'm not gonna fall for that again. The last man promised to help me in return as well and look where that got me. You thought that I'd let you win like this? Not in a thousand years would I surrender to you!"

"No, I'm asking you to join me," Techno tried to explain, but effortlessly.

Slowly, Quackity had gotten up and was limping towards Techno, dragging his axe after him on the ground "No, you're not. You can't fool me."

That's when Techno noticed the thing that the tall guy was looking at. The skeleton simply walked past the tall guy and raised his sword. "Quackity, you need to—"

"Come on, fight me!"

"There's a—"

"Fight me like a man—" His words ended abruptly and Techno noticed a tip of a sword coming out of his stomach. He looked down and grabbed the sword and when he removed his hand, it was turning to ashes. Slowly, he began to wither away from where the sword had touched him. During his last moments, he looked at him and Techno was sure that this expression was going to haunt him for the rest of his days. His body dropped on the ground and it didn't long for him to turn into dust and be blown away by the wind.

The skeleton turned to Techno and was now going after him. Having seen what the wither skeletons were capable of, Techno wasn't sure whether fighting back would be a wise idea. Or even an option. When the skeleton swung his stone sword, Techno blocked it with his netherite one.

 _KILL IT_ , the voices urged. Techno didn't want to, he didn't want to risk dying, but the voices didn't stop.

_KILL IT_

_END IT_

Techno tried attacking, but that thing made out of coal looked sturdier than he'd anticipated. Out of nowhere, the tall guy hit it with Quackity's axe and the skeleton turned around which gave Techno an opening to end it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hadn't even realized that a week has passed since posting the last chapter. You have no idea how much fun I had writing this chapter. For a moment I even hesitated about bringing Quackity and my favorite tall boy into the story, but I think it was worth it. Also, I've never written a fighting scene before, because I usually find them really boring and I'm bad when it comes to explaining a fight or a battle in detail, but when I decided to start writing this fic, I knew that I was going to write a scene like this at some point and as it turns out, this was more fun than I'd anticipated.


	6. Cake With Salmon

Techno and the tall guy stood there staring at each other, the wither skeleton's remains between them. The guy seemed pretty neutral about this whole situation that had just taken place.

After a while, Techno was the first one to get a word out. "Why did it ignore you?"

"What do you mean?" the guy asked, surprising Techno with his ability to understand him and speak.

"I watched that thing walk past you while you just looked at it. Why didn't it attack you?"

"Oh, it's probably because I'm a monster," the guy said in a calm manner. Looking at him more carefully, he did resemble an enderman.

"What's your name?"

"Ranboo."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Techno."

"I know." With that, there was a long pause in their conversation, because either part didn't know what to say or do next. Ranboo grouched over the coaly bones. "These are rare to obtain in the Nether. I suggest you take them with you. Especially the skull."

"Why's the skull important?" Techno was confused.

"I... can't remember, but I'm sure that it had some kind of use."

While they were picking up all the parts of the skeleton, Techno couldn't shrug off the feeling of being watched.

_BEHIND YOU_

Turning around, he didn't see anything at first. Then he noticed a man hidden in the hood of a dark cloak, just standing there in one place, really far away. It was one of the figures from the exile day, at the portal, the only one whose face was visible. And then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

"Did you see that?" Techno asked.

"What?"

"That guy wearing a cloak."

"Oh, he's been following us for a while now, but Quackity didn't believe me," Ranboo said, completely unbothered.

Techno stood and wiped the ashes off his clothes. "I should get going. It was nice meeting you. Unless you want to come with me?"

"No, I think I'll be fine," Ranboo answered and it was enough for Techno to get on his way.

The way back would be a long one, but at least Techno had his thoughts that would occupy him. And the voices. He wasn't sure what to make out of them or how to get rid of them. He'd thought that they'd just go after a while, but that didn't seem to be the case.

_FOLLOWED_

"What do you mean? Get out of my head!"

_YOU ARE BEING FOLLOWED_

He immediately took out his sword, ready to attack, but it was just Ranboo who'd been walking not too far behind. This sneaky weirdo had almost given him a heart attack.

"Don't scare me like that!" Techno grasped his chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

They were silent, until Techno slowly asked, "Is there a reason why you're following me?"

"I'm pretty sure that I was heading the other way, but then I got here, saw you and decided to follow." After a moment, he added, "I also forgot where the portal is."

"There's another portal?"

"Somewhere, yes, but I'm not sure where and I think it was closed after Quackity was thrown in here. I can't remember."

"Is there anything you do remember?"

Ranboo gave no answer, which made Techno sigh and turn around to head to the bastion, Ranboo following his tracks.

_KILL HIM_

"No, why would I do that?" Techno was confused.

_DO IT_

_IT WOULD BE HILARIOUS_

"I'm not going to kill him."

"What shall we have for dinner?" Techno heard Ranboo ask. His heart stopped a beat because he was so used to talking to the voices out loud and completely forgot how to be around other people. It was safe to talk out loud around the piglins because they didn't understand a word he said, but now he had to consider that Ranboo would understand.

Techno answered him in hope that Ranboo hadn't noticed him talking to himself. "I mean, there isn't much to eat in the Nether, but—"

"Cake," Ranboo answered himself. In confusion, Techno turned his head, just to witness Ranboo talking to himself, often turning his head left or right like there was a conversation going on between two separate people, all while using hands like he was arguing with someone.

"With milk?

Of course with milk.

Milk goes first.

No, eggs go first. With sugar.

Then goes wheat.

And milk is last.

No, salmon is last.

We're not adding the salmon.

But I want to add the salmon.

We're not adding the salmon because it would taste terrible and no one would like that, so we're not adding the salmon."

Maybe Techno wasn't the only weird one here.

"We're out of milk, though." Sounded Ranboo's voice as an echo from far away. Looking behind him once again, Techno noticed that Ranboo was now gone.

"What?!" Techno looked frantically around and noticed Ranboo hundreds of meters away, just walking and talking to himself. "How did you get there?!" Ranboo didn't seem to notice or hear him. "Hold on, I'm coming to you." Techno began walking towards him and then Ranboo was gone again, simply vanishing into thin air.

Techno had no idea what just happened and what to do now. The most sensible thing to do would be to look for him.

_LEAVE HIM_

_HE WILL BE FINE_

"I'm not leaving him," Techno argued back and began looking.

_LEFT_

He walked around yelling his name, but with no luck.

_GO LEFT_

_RIGHT_

He went in every possible direction and checked many places more than once.

_LEFT_

"I already went left and he wasn't there! You're not being useful, voices." Techno was getting tired and annoyed by their repetitiveness. The voices had been constantly telling him where to go, not making it any easier for him to orientate.

After walking quite a distance, he heard someone's steps behind him and he took out his sword, but once again, it was just Ranboo.

"We should put a bell on you." Techno sheathed his sword.

"Sorry, sometimes we teleport arbitrarily."

"That's... concerning." Techno wasn't sure whether he should be worried about his memory losses, his random teleporting or him talking about himself in plural.

"I don't think you need to worry about that—" Ranboo tried to assure, but disappeared half-way through his sentence. Techno just stood there staring into the empty air. He wasn't going to bother with him anymore. Ranboo is a monster, right? So surviving in the Nether shouldn't be a problem for him. Techno had to admit that he was getting tired, so he decided to leave and hope that the hybrid will be fine.

"He's fine," Techno assured himself. "It's fine."

* * *

Phil had been to the Nether countless times in hopes of finding Techno, but each time he'd returned with no progress being made. The whole town knew about his searching and thought he was insane, which he probably was.

Flying for hours in the Nether heat was wearying. And to think that Techno had been living in that heat for months now; it's a slim chance he's even alive. But Phil won't give up. Not until he found him. Or his body. Both seemed plausible now.

Standing alone once again in the Nether, Phil felt like he knew every part of this terrain. The wings were heavier on his back, but Fundy said that he'd managed to understand the mechanisms of the accelerator and worked all night on it.

" _Are you going to look for him again?_ " Tommy had asked right before Phil was about to go through.

" _Someone's got to._ " Phil had answered before going through. " _He's as much of a son to me as you are._ "

Without wasting another moment, his wings opened in its full span and he took off.

He did his usual route around the portal and since there were no signs of Techno, he decided to go further into the depths of the Nether. He flew over a crimson forest when he noticed an unusual hole and descended, landing right before the edge. It was quite deep and there were bones and rotten flesh of a hoglin remains.

Confident that Techno'd been here, Phil was overtaken by relief and immediately took off, now flying in a straight line. Over time, there were bodies of piglins just laying there. He had to be alive. He had to be somewhere.

Looking down, he noticed a figure just wandering around. He landed before him and looked at the extremely tall man, who in a way resembled an enderman.

"Hi there," the wanderer greeted cheerfully.

"Hello," Phil said back, "are you alright?"

"I think I'm lost," he said uncertainly.

"You need help?"

"I think I'll manage.

No, you idiot, we've been here for an eternity!

Didn't we just get here?

No!"

Phil watched the man argue with himself, his separate personality, or whatever was going on. "I don't want to interrupt you, but have you seen a man here? His name is Techno."

"No, I don't think I have seen anyone."

Phil felt his hopes drop, but then the man started talking again.

"Are you kidding me? We met that man.

We did?

Yes, he's the one from the fortress!

Wasn't that Quackity?

He was there too. Both of them were!"

Phil interfered with their conversation. "Wait, Techno's alive?"

"It seems so."

"Then I should get going." Phil had already opened his wings when the enderman hybrid stopped him.

"Hey, wait a second."

"Yeah?"

"I'm... in a bit of a predicament right now. You see, I'm lost and I kind of want to..."

"Of course you can come with me." Phil smiled.

"Really?"

"Just hop on my back."

The man seemed to hesitate a bit, but did as he'd been told.

"What's your name?"

"Ranboo."

"That's a nice name. I'm Philza, but you can call me Phil."

"I know."

A bit disturbed by his answer, Phil took off into the air. They hadn't probably flown for even five minutes when Phil felt the heaviness disappear, making him lose his balance. Further away, Ranboo was falling in the air and he was right above a lava lake. Phil lunged down, barely able to grab him by his hands and pull them higher.

"What was that?" Phil was confused.

"Sometimes I teleport."

"And you're telling me now?!"

"I'm sorry I almost got us killed."

Phil shrugged it off. "I'm used to it."

This was going to be a long trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this one was more intended as a filler, but I just couldn't resist writing this interaction between my two favorite crowned hybrids. Maybe, if I feel like it, I'll probably add more side stories. I didn't get much time to write because of the defense of my research paper, but at least that's over. Oh, I also broke my laptop in two pieces and I won't be getting another one for a month or two, but that's not gonna stop me from writing!


	7. Reformations

Wilbur had a busy day as always: writing speeches and going through with reforms. He spent most of his days in his cabinet behind his desk. There was so much paperwork that he'd already finished and there was so much more to be done. He was going to have to pull another all-nighter if he wanted to finish these in time.

He sighed and looked out the window. He was doing this for the people and their freedom. Yet there were still people demanding him to step down. How can they be so blind? He was doing this for their sake and the people still didn't respect him. Someone had to get rid of the king and no one else hadn't done anything about it. It was all up to him to fix this country.

Wilbur wanted to call it a day so badly and just take a nap, but reformations couldn't wait. They needed to be done as soon as possible. Before it would be late.

Briefly, he could hear a distorted sound and before he realized it, two people had appeared in his cabinet. They hadn't entered because the door hadn't been opened. They simply came into existence.

They both wore dark cloaks. The one on the left was a short dark-haired man wearing goggles. The one on the right had his hood on, wearing a smiley mask.

They didn't say anything; just stood there. It seems like it was up to Wilbur to start the conversation, but for a while, he couldn't think of anything.

He calmed his nerves and demanded in a steady voice, "How did you get in?"

The taller one spoke, "I can be anywhere I want. I don't need to be invited."

Wilbur tried to remain composed as he realized that it wasn't a mask. It was what he looked like. Even as his mouth moved and eyes blinked, the smile remained. What was he?

This wasn't normal. This monster had appeared out of nowhere and Wilbur had no idea what to make out of it. Precautiously, he asked, "Who are you?"

"Dream." 

"Mind stating your business?"

"I got in touch with a client of mine quite a while ago and they said that they weren't happy with the current constitution and everything that's being done around here, all these reforms and law changes. They asked for my help and me, being neutral about all this, decided to hear them out and I must say that I was quite intrigued by their plan. This is why we're here for the little visit, just to let you know that your reign won't last for long."

The doors behind the duo slammed open and guards came running in, surrounding the whole room.

"Well, you chose a bad time to make a visit since it seems that you're surrounded." Wilbur smiled.

"That's where you're wrong, Wilbur," a familiar voice interrupted. Eret walked in and took his place between the cloaked men. "You're the one who's surrounded."

The sight of Eret being the traitor took Wilbur by surprise, but just by a little. If anyone was to betray him, it was most likely to be Eret. Wilbur just hadn't expected that he was working behind his back since he'd promised to be his right-hand man. And he'd been under constant surveillance so Wilbur had no reason to doubt in Eret for scheming against him.

Looking around the room, Wilbur realized that he was indeed the one who the guards had their weapons pointed at. Had they all been part of the movement against him? Had he been fed false information this whole time?

"Eret, how could you?"

"Did you really think that I was going to let you take it all from me?" Eret was smirking and Wilbur hated the sight of it.

"I could have thrown you aside if I wanted to but I was kind enough to let you stay and help me turn this hell of a kingdom into a utopia."

"By taking my rights as a ruler by force? By blackmailing everyone to get all the power for yourself? You sound nothing like a savior of people. You're a dictator. A tyrant" Eret then turned to the guards and gave them the command to take Wilbur.

Wilbur had nothing over the professionally trained men. He trashed and tried to get out of their grasp, but they shackled his hands and held him firm.

"There's no point in resisting. It's all over for you," said the man with goggles. The familiarity of the monotone voice and deadpan face hit Wilbur like a brick.

"Wait... George?" Wilbur was in utter disbelief. "I've been wondering where you've been. You haven't been showing up to court."

"As you can see, I've been busy," George answered in his usual disdain.

"Get him out of here," Eret said, "I want him out of my sight as soon as possible."

The guards began escorting Wilbur out against his own will. As he passed the three men, he spat to Eret, "You ungrateful little motherfucker! We could've made a difference! We could've changed this all around for the better! You're making a grave mistake!"

No matter what Wilbur said, Eret took pleasure in the moment and watched with joy as Wilbur was stripped from everything he'd fought for.

* * *

George had always been annoyed by Eret's behavior.

The king was now sitting on top of his throne and wearing his crown and cape. If there was one thing that George respected about Wilbur, it was the fact that not once did Wilbur flaunt with his power or sat on that throne. Then again, George couldn't care less, because Eret wasn't going to be the one to be in control. That had never been the plan.

"Gentlemen," Eret started with a grandiose smile, "Without your help, I wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be here. I can't thank you enough. I mean it."

Dream didn't say anything for a while, carefully thinking about his answer. There was nothing to think about, because the trio already had everything planned out.

"Actually, about that, there is something we want to clarify. Just to make sure that there would be no misunderstandings later on. Nothing complicated, of course."

"Whatever it is, I'm all ears."

"You see," Dream started, "I just want you to know that you have no authority here from this point on."

Eret's smile dropped. "Whatever do you mean?"

"I hope you took the most of your glorious moment, because now it's over. I'm going to be the one in control. It's only fair since without us you wouldn't be sitting there in the first place."

Eret was silent in his usual manner, taking his time to think. To process this all.

Dream glided closer to the throne. "We're not stripping you from your power. You can still keep the title of the king, wear your crown, sit on that throne and be a pleasure to the eye. That's all you need to do. I'll be the one in charge around here."

No answer.

"Is that understandable?"

"No," Eret's deep voice didn't quiver like George had expected it to. "I can't let you do that."

"No?" Dream's face expressed displeasure. Then he let out a chuckle. "Eret, I wasn't asking you. I was telling what's waiting ahead. Or do I need to get rid of you? Either way we won't be going anywhere. The only difference is whether you'll get to live or not. The choice is yours."

Eret's hands were holding tightly unto the throne's armrest. It was visible from the hatred in his eyes that he was in a predicament. And he hated it.

"Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes," came the resentful answer.

"Good." Dream backed away from Eret and made his way to the exit. "I guess I'll see you around, then."

While Dream had already made his way to the doorway, George made one last glance at Eret. He sat there like a doll, his face pale.

When George left the throne room, Dream was already gone. He appeared and disappeared arbitrarily. It all depended on his whims. George couldn't even imagine what he was up to during his spare time.

All alone, he went to one of the living rooms, just to sit down on a sofa and think this through. Everything that's happened so far had at first been a childish dream. He'd never expected things to get this serious. He'd just tagged along for the fun.

Dream and Sapnap first met about a decade ago and because of Dream being whatever he was, Sapnap had to hide him. Dream never talked about what he was or where he came from. He rarely revealed anything about himself.

George, only a few years ago had come across them and just went along with anything that the boys came up with. Sure, he'd been surprised and disgusted by Dream's appearance at first, but now it was so normal.

When Dream first revealed his ability to do basically anything he wanted, George found it hard to believe, but that was the only thing that explained his telepathy, teleportation, flight, conjuring anything into existence any many more powers of which George hadn't probably been told of.

"Your objectives are unusual, you know that, right?" George said out of nowhere, knowing that Dream would hear him.

"Whatever do you mean by that?" Dream appeared out of nowhere, floating across the room.

"We could've done it without Eret and yet you still decided to tag him along just to play with his mind. Why?"

"It's more fun that way," Dream answered casually. "True, I could've taken it all at any moment, but then it wouldn't give me any satisfaction. People tend to get more satisfied the harder they work for something. You get what I mean?"

"I guess," George was unsure.

The silence between them felt alien because usually Sapnap was around which always led to him and George fighting and bickering with each other. Where had he disappeared to? Dream had sent Sapnap away because of some errand, George knew that much. He hadn't bothered to ask where Sapnap was or what he was doing because he enjoyed the calmness, but this was getting too weird even for George.

"Anyway, where's Sapnap? I haven't seen him for about a week."

"Oh, he didn't tell you?"

"No. Should he have?"

"It's nothing important. I just sent him to the Nether to keep an eye on someone, that's all."

Why to the Nether?

"Is this about Techno?"

"Yes. By some miracle, he's managed to survive. I just need to make sure he stays there."

George had heard the rumors but hadn't thought much about them.

Dream continued, "Sapnap's been asking me to get him back here because he's feeling uncomfortable and it'd be a long way back."

"Just bring him here. Do you have any idea how draining the Nether heat is?" George was irritated.

"Fine," Dream said as his smile turned into a straight irritated line. "Spoilsport."

"What did you say?" George couldn't quite hear the second word that Dream had muttered under his breath.

A moment later, Sapnap was in front of them, his cloak off over his arm and bullets of sweat falling from his forehead.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Sapnap snapped at Dream as soon as he arrived. He was right in front of the smiling god and had to look up to him to look him in the eyes. He reminded George of a rabid dog. "You're so messed up!"

"What? Why? What happened?" George didn't understand, sitting up straight.

Sapnap turned towards George. "He sent Quackity to the Nether to kill Techno." He then turned back to face Dream. "You knew that it was going to be an unfair fight. You sent one of my closest friends to their death!"

"Wait," George thought he'd heard wrong. "Quackity is dead?"

"Yes!"

George didn't know what to think. Although he and Quackity never hang around much, he still had considered him a friend. Sure, he was obnoxious most of the time, but he'd always lightened the atmosphere whenever he opened his mouth.

"How am I gonna tell Karl?" Sapnap's whispers reflected panic. He sat down next to George, his head in his hands.

"I don't see how his death is relevant," Dream was genuinely confused.

Sapnap's head snapped up. "You can't see how his death is relevant? You killed an innocent man! Why would you let him die if you could've gone and fought Techno yourself?!"

"Because it's fun."

"It's fun to watch people die?" George barely got the words out. "Sapnap is right. There's definitely something wrong with you, Dream."

"Enough about that. That's not what's important." Dream changed the topic. "Sapnap, I need you to return to the Nether as soon as possible. Someone needs to keep an eye on Techno."

"Aren't you a literal deity? You should be able to keep an eye on him at all times yourself with these powers of yours."

"Even I have limits," Dream admitted, which was a first to both of the human friends. "Stay hidden and don't interact with him. Engage only when he tries to leave."

With that, Dream was gone.

George noticed Sapnap let out a deep relieved breath. Then he began to rant, "God, I hate it so much! Why did I even agree to this?"

George hummed. "Out of duty of being a good friend?"

"Is this why you're doing this?"

"No."

Sapnap leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. He was contemplating something to himself, clearly displeased with the whole situation.

"George, should we just... I don't know... Step back? Not get involved with this shit."

George hadn't expected Sapnap to bring it up. The same thought had passed him countless of times, but never had thought much of it.

"I don't know. That means betraying Dream. He is the only person who I have ever considered a friend, besides you, of course."

"I don't think he's our friend. He's a monster and we mean nothing to him. We're just disposable objects for him to discard once we are no longer of any use."

"But it still feels wrong to just leave him after all those years."

"George, he doesn't care about us!"

"But I do!" George snapped back louder than he'd intended. He took a moment to calm himself down before continuing, "I don't want to leave him. I can't. I care for him more than I probably should."

Sapnap sighed. "So do I."

George stared at Sapnap intensively for a long while, thinking about how to respond to that. Then, he said instead, "Go take a bath. You reek of sweat."

Sapnap was still visibly irritated, but let it be and stood to leave. "You're right. I don't think that one bath would be enough, though. I have no idea how Techno is able to put up with this filth."

Sapnap was almost out of the room, but then stopped, his hand resting on the doorway.

"But still, what if we leave? Just put this all behind us, get out of here and start our lives over."

"You know we can't. He wouldn't let us. I'd rather follow him against my own will than let my mind be taken over and be controlled like another one of his puppets." George sighed deeply as he let his head fall in his hands. "Where did everything go wrong?"

It was the inevitable truth that they both hated to admit.

"See you around," Sapnap muttered.

"See you later," George replied, unsure when would be the next time when they'd be able to see each other.


	8. Ruined Portal

"Since time is not a thing in this hell of a realm and the concept of it has turned utterly useless for me to orientate between day and night, I'm not sure how many weeks... or months…? Years? I've no clue how long has passed since my arrival. I've begun to notice changes in my face structure, such as the growth of tusks and the shape of my nose and ears. Because there are no mirrors here, it's difficult for me to say in detail what I currently look like, but I have noticed that my hair has grown past my shoulders and is turning pink. And why am I talking to myself?! These piglins can't understand a word I say and the voices aren't being helpful either!"

Staying alone in the Nether with no one to talk to really was getting to his mental health. He'd begun talking to himself more and sometimes even to piglins who just looked at him and oinked. After Techno made some torches and lanterns from soul sand, which for some reason produced blue fire, he noticed that piglins avoided it whenever Techno walked close to them while holding it. Unfortunately, the brutes didn't seem to care about the soul fire and were aggressive as always.

Over time, there was nothing for Techno to do other than explore and collect resources. He'd never really wanted to enter the depths of the bastion because that's where most of the brutes were, but being curious and having nothing better to do with his time, he decided to go deeper and explore.

At first, there wasn't anything new. More chests, more gold, more destroyed rooms. After a while, he started to make use of the abandoned rooms and turn them into potions brewing rooms, storages or anything else that he could come up with.

While transporting his stuff to the floors down below, he leaned against one of the walls to take a moment of break but fell through it. The blackstone wall had been thin and hollow on the other side. There was dust all around him, making him cough and fan it away with his hands. Looking up from where he'd fallen, he realized that this was one of the rooms he hadn't come across yet. If he had, then he would've remembered this room, because...

It was a portal room. Techno couldn't believe it. He roamed around the portal, making sure that he wasn't seeing things. It was really there. And it was in a really good state. The frames of the enormous portal had been damaged, but with enough obsidian, he might be able to fix it. He could get out of this hell and wherever this portal would lead, it'd be far away from that corrupted place he'd once called home.

Techno felt like he finally had a goal. Something to strive after. He had a chance to escape and he wasn't going to let it slip. It was achievable. He'd collected enough obsidian and had planned on making a new portal once he had enough materials, but with this, all he had to do was add obsidian from where it was missing.

He didn't waste a moment to get the obsidian from the chests in rooms above and got to fixing it. Making the portal turned out to be harder than he'd anticipated because pieces kept falling out. Although he tried to be as fast as possible, it felt like it had taken forever. Once he'd finished with it, he took a step back and took in the sight of the completed portal.

"First try?" he asked the voices.

 _FIRST TRY_ , they confirmed.

Impatiently, he picked up flint and steel and tried to light it. The sparks came and so did the fire, but not the purple layer.

_NO!!_

Disappointed, he looked the portal over and tried to fix the mistakes he'd previously thought didn't matter. Hoping that the last disappointment was worth it, he asked out loud, "Do I hear first try, attempt two?"

_FIRST TRY_

And tried lighting it again. And failed. And he repeated the process over and over and over again, but with no luck.

Every day, he went back to the portal, trying to mine out the parts of the portal from where a substance was dripping like the obsidian was crying and reshaping the portal itself to be more stable.

After many unsuccessful days and having lost count of his attempts of "first tries", he'd lost all hope, but still kept trying. There was nothing else for him to do. He'd come to accept that he was going to have to spend the rest of his days among the piglin hybrids, but he still tried to light the portal.

Techno had once again improved his portal and scraped together flint and steel, watching the sparks fall on the bottom of the frame. Once again, no result.

Exhausted from another day of working on the portal, he turned to leave the room. Maybe he should just leave it be and try to build a new portal from the scratch. Or maybe the portal was at a bad location that it just could find a safe place in the Overworld for him to come out. Phil would know what to do. He always knew. Techno cursed for not being able to ask anyone for assistance. Not that he'd asked for help from others when he lived in the Overworld. He was far too stubborn to depend on others and would rather find a way himself.

Just as he was about to leave the portal room, he heard an unfamiliar sound. No, it was familiar, but from a long time ago.

Techno turned around, observing as flicks of purple appeared and disappeared inside the portal frame.

_NOW IS YOUR CHANCE_

Not a moment had passed when Techno picked up the flint and steel once more and kneeled in front of the portal, frantically trying to light it.

"Come on," he muttered to himself in an irritated voice, hoping that his words would miraculously help him light the portal.

Suddenly, there was a boom that sent him flying back first on the ground, nearly blinding him. Slowly, he got a sense of his surroundings and the first thing he saw was purple.

Purple.

There was purple.

The enormous portal now held a layer of purple inside it.

_YES_

_YOU DID IT_

Techno was too shocked to be happy. He was happy inside, but he was unable to put it into words or any facial expressions. He just sat there against the wall, quietly watching the portal as if it was just a mirage and would disappear at any moment.

HURRY

IT MIGHT CLOSE

After long minutes of just sitting there, he cautiously got up and walked up to the portal. He put his hand through it and it felt thicker than water.

"I did it," he said in disbelief. "I made a portal."

_YOU DID IT_

He could leave. He was free at last. He could return to Overworld, go somewhere where no one would come to look for him. Let them believe he's dead and live the rest of his days in peace.

He wanted to go through, but there was something stopping him. He had to prepare himself mentally before he was ready to go.

Having decided to do so, he went back up, took some tools, food and other necessary supplies with him, all while thinking through his plan. He was going to cross over, locate where he is and then flee to a remote place. Somewhere, where no one else was.

Having calmed down, he went back to the portal, ready to take the leap.

"This is it," Techno said to no one in particular.

"I don't think I can let you go through," interrupted a voice. At the doorway stood the cloaked figure, the one with a bandana.

_IT'S HIM_

Techno knew that he'd been observing him for days, but not until now he wasn't sure of his reasons.

"What do you want?" Techno demanded.

"I'm here to keep you away from portals. Just a precaution, nothing personal."

"And on whose behalf you're here for?"

"Just doing a favour for a friend," he said as he generated fire with his hands out of nowhere and blasted it towards Techno. He didn't try to dodge it, because it was only fire. It shouldn't have burned him, but for some reason, it did.

_WHAT_

Techno grabbed his arm with his other hand, where the damage was the worst and gasped out of pain. The motion had happened out of automatic reflex and touching it hurt even more.

_HOW_

"What?" Techno was confused. He'd never seen anything like that before. "How did you do that?!"

The pyrokinetic smirked. "Oh, it's just one of the perks of being best friends with a god."

"A god?" Techno didn't understand.

_FRIENDS WITH A GOD_

_OH NO_

_RUN_

_GET OUT_

The voices were louder than ever.

The kinetic sent another wave of fire towards him, which Techno this time barely dodged. And so began the hunt in the maze of the bastion. Techno tried to run as high as possible, hoping to get some piglins on his side, all while the heedless man chased him, sending out blasts of fire.

Making it above the surface, he stopped at the bridge, the kinetic not too far behind him. Just as Techno came to a stop, the pyrokinetic sent out another wave of fire and before it had all evaporated, the man appeared out nowhere and attacked, which Techno blocked in time. It was a sword against an axe.

For a fighter, he was careless, reckless and chaotic, but that's what made him unpredictable. He was well built and knew what he was doing. He put up a good fight and used the shield he had well to his advantage.

_BLOOD_

The piglins and brutes had also appeared by now, but they were no match to the opponent. While the kinetic was slightly distracted with the piglins, Techno looked around and noticed the pool of lava below the bridge.

As the man turned his focus on Techno, he tried to lure the kinetic closer to the edge of the bridge. With a simple move, the man had pushed Techno back just enough for Techno to see the lava underneath.

"What're you going to do now, huh?" the pyrokinetic asked with a ferocious smile.

_END HIM_

Techno looked him deep in the eyes, grabbed him by his chestplate and said, "I'm going to bring you down with me."

Techno leaned himself backwards, pulling the kinetic with him. The fall had lasted a moment and then Techno found himself in the familiar orange blurriness. He could barely make out his surroundings, but he saw the axe being swung at him, which he blocked.

_WE WANT BLOOD_

Furiously, Techno swung back and sliced through the skin of the man's stomach, taking him by surprise. He tried to swim away, but Techno was faster.

_BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD_

The man was struggling to get further away from Techno who was now brutally fighting back.

_YES_

_MORE BLOOD_

_BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD_

The voices only encouraged Techno to kill the man right there and then with no remorse. Just as Techno made the final blow, the kinetic dodged it, barely, and had gotten on the surface to keep a safe distance from the monstrous brute.

When Techno hauled himself from the lava on the floor, the pyrokinetic had already pearled away to several floors above him, standing right next to the exit. He was clutching unto his stomach, the other hand on the wall to keep himself from falling. He was bleeding badly.

"Don't think this is over!" He yelled from above, his voice barely audible. "You haven't heard the last from me!"

"I don't even know your name!" Techno yelled back in exasperation.

"The name's Sapnap!"

"Good to know!"

The next moment the pyrokinetic, who'd called himself Sapnap, was gone.

Techno just lied there, taking deep breaths. There was so much going through his mind and he wasn't able to process it all.

"Techno Blade... never... dies," he assured himself between breaths. His heartbeat was calming down and so did his thoughts. The only thing he could think about was the fact that he was still alive. "Techno Blade never dies!" Techno yelled at the top of his lungs.

_TECHNO BLADE NEVER DIES_

* * *

_Dream_ , Sapnap sent out a telepathic message, _g_ _et me out of here._

The answer didn't take long to arrive. _Why?_

_I'm bleeding and it hurts! I'm fucking dying! Dream, please bring me back._

_Fine_ , sounded Dream's irritated answer after a pause and the next moment, Sapnap was hit by the freshness of cool air. He collapsed on the floor right there and squeezed his eyes closed because of the pain and the sudden brightness.

"Sapnap!" He could barely hear George scream and steps rushing closer. George tried to touch him, but in response, Sapnap winced in pain. "What happened?"

He was unable to get a word out.

"Sapnap, what happened?"

It physically hurt to answer.

"What are you standing there for? Do something!" That had been intended for Dream.

"Why me?" Dream's voice was calm.

"Why?" George barely got the word out. "You're his friend! Don't you feel any remorse?"

"I'm a god and I'm not allowed to meddle with humans."

"What do you mean by that? Has then as everything we've done together all these years been against the rules of being whatever you are?!"

"Not necessarily."

George let out an exasperated sigh. "You're being really vague. Tell me, where's the line drawn?" Dream was silent. "No, forget about that. We need to focus on Sapnap. Get me some water and cloth and—"

"I'm not bringing you anything." Dream didn't sound concerned. "He'll be fine. He won't die from that little scratch."

"Scratch? Look at this thing! He'll bleed to death!"

"He'll probably pass out, but he definitely won't die."

Then the room became eerily quiet and the heaviness which Dream's presence usually brought was gone. George said something, but Sapnap could longer focus on the unintelligible words and blacked out.

* * *

Techno was standing before the portal once again. This time he would go before something would stop him again.

The piglins were inspecting the portal curiously and before Techno could stop them, one of them walked through.

Taking a deep breath, Techno walked through and welcomed the unpleasant feeling which had sent him in this hell in the first place.

He'd expected to be unconscious after going through just like the last time, but this time he didn't lose conciousness. He walked out on two feet and the first thing he saw was brightness. There was too much light, that he had to close his eyes momentarily to get used to it. He hadn't realized how dark Nether was compared to the Overworld.

The Overworld. He was back. He was home. It felt so surreal, but it was real.

He felt pain from everywhere. Of course, there was the brightness of the sun and then there was more. The sudden change from hell heat to ice coldness was hurting his legs and arms that he felt like the cold was burning him and the clothes made out of sheer fabric didn't help whatsoever.

Then he felt nauseous and threw up right next to the portal. This needed some time getting used to.

There was oinking and looking at the piglin, who had walked through before him, was also in pain, burning from the sun so badly that his bones were visible from a couple of spots.

Looking around more, his vision was a bit blurry, but he understood his surroundings. All there was, was snow. No mountains on the horizon. No trees to complete the scenery. No clouds in the light blue sky. It was a snowy tundra and nothing more.

He took a wobbly step. Then another. A few more until he fell on his knees, looking up into the sky, where the sun was high. He'd never realized how much he'd missed the sun. He felt the snow under him freeze him, but in a way, he liked it. He'd missed all of this.

He was back in the Overworld.

He was home.

He was free.

He was a man presumed dead.

Although he was in pain from all the cold, he stood and looked around him. There was nothing. At least not at first. But as his vision got used to the sunlight, he was able to make out a settlement, although very vaguely. And it didn't look like it was too far away.

Techno felt like this was the beginning of a new era.

This was an ideal place to start anew.


	9. Antarctic Castle

This was a horrible location regarding the resources.

When Techno had asked for a place isolated from the rest of the world, he hadn't meant a biome where nothing grew. Everything was either ice or snow, which wasn't useful at all. At least there was a settlement nearby, which had been abandoned probably decades or centuries ago. The materials used for building the cottages had without a doubt been brought from other continents.

He'd observed the cycle of the sun and no matter what, the day didn't end, so he assumed his location to be the continent of Antarctica. Due to the cold, Techno had no choice but to return to the Nether several times, so he wouldn't die of hypothermia. He wasn't used to the freezing temperatures and it would take a long time until his body would come to accept it.

Some of the piglins, now zombified, had tagged along and now occupied the little cottages. A little further away from the settlement was a castle. It wasn't anything big or grandiose, just a simple thing made out of stone bricks. That's where Techno had decided to live.

Techno went into the castle and checked through every room and chest, just to see if he was going to find anything useful. In some of the chests were neatly packed away fancy linen shirts and leather pants that weren't tattered and ripped in pieces, unlike his current clothes. They did need some washing, but that wasn't a hard task to do. He'd also found long boots that would keep his legs warm from the inside.

While the clothes were drying, he took a bath and even though the water was ice cold, he could at least get rid of all the gore. One bath wasn't going to be enough because he could still feel the blood on him no matter how hard he scrubbed.

After that, he put on the new set of clothes and decided to stay in one of the rooms, which he assumed to be a former king's bedroom. Although it might've been a sin for someone like him to even take a step in the king's chambers, Techno knew that he'd deserved it after going through literal hell. He found it justifiable because he was, in a way, a king too.

After making the fire in the fireplace, he threw himself on the mattress and didn't let himself be bothered by all of the dust that went up in the air. All that mattered to him was the wooly feeling in the back of his body. He'd missed this so much, dreaming about this every time he fell asleep on the blackstone floor.

On the other side of the room, was a stand, which held a red cape with fur. Intrigued by it, he got up and walked up to it to get a closer look. It was made out of velvet and just by looking at the fur he already felt warmer.

He put it around his shoulders and let its heaviness press his shoulders down. Right next to the stand was a mirror. He went in front of it just to see how the cape would fit him, but what caught his attention was his face. Many of his features resembled a pig's.

_KING OF THE PIGS_

He'd noticed the deformity before and was aware of the changes, but hadn't thought about its seriousness until now.

It felt so wrong that instead of a brunet farmer with glasses, there was a pig hybrid staring back at him. It didn't feel like he was looking in a mirror at all and instead was staring at a painting, but the painting moved in the exact same trajectories that he did. Yet it didn't make him feel bad. He didn't miss his old look and he wasn't bothered by the new one as well. He was felt neutral about all that.

_KING OF THE NETHER_

His head was stuffed with the voices and he wasn't sure for how long he could cope. They were getting louder and more insistent with each passing day. Sure, it was nice to hear someone else talk for a change, but the thought that it was his own hallucinations didn't make up for it.

He put his hands on the crown and tried to lift it one last time, but the crown stayed firmly. One day he was going to find a way to remove it. He had to, or else the voices would consume him.

_KING OF THE ANTARCTIC EMPIRE_

"Would you just shut up?!" Techno yelled, followed by a heavy cough.

Continuing with the exploration of the castle, the hallways were like a maze. And there were so many rooms where the furniture had been covered with sheets. There was no way that he was going to find a use to all of these rooms. Whoever had left probably knew they wouldn't return.

There were sounds of angry oinking and metal clanking together coming from outside. Looking out the window, he had no idea what he would see, because the piglins never fought each other. They were fighting, but to his relief not with each other. There was someone else. Techno squinted in order to make out the figure, but he wasn't able to.

Grabbing his sword, he rushed outside and the piglins made way as he walked closer to the attacker and was ready to call them out, but his breathing stopped the moment he realized who it was.

Phil.

It was without a doubt Phil.

How had he found him? There was no way that it was a coincidence. Sure, he traveled around a lot, but he had no business here.

Phil was busy fighting off the piglins and mercilessly took his opponents down. Techno had forgotten what it felt like to watch his former tutor in a real fight. Even though the abundance of piglins seemed to make the odds against him, he was unstoppable.

Techno stepped in, not wanting to see any more piglins be hurt in this senseless fight. He'd swung his sword at Phil, making the man retreat. Phil looked at Techno with such coldness in his eyes like he was the enemy.

"Phil?" Techno barely got it out as a whisper.

Techno had no plans on fighting against him, but he'd been left with no choice when Phil launched towards him and almost had put his sword through Techno's ribs, forcing Techno to retreat a step in pure shock.

_TRAITOR_

No, Techno tried to assure himself. Phil wasn't usually like that. Techno refused to believe that Phil had come all the way just to torment him more.

_KILL HIM_

Techno tried not to attack back, only to defend in hopes that Phil would snap out of it, but there was no change. Phil didn't seem to have a clear look at him and just continued attacking, one swing after another.

_HE WANTS YOU DEAD_

As the swords clinked, Techno could feel his heart beat rapidly out of either anger or fear. Probably both. He'd never expected to find out what it felt to go against the merciless side of Phil. Slowly, he could feel the wrath overflowing in his body, making him more focused on getting a hit on Phil rather than bringing him to his senses.

_WE WANT BLOOD_

The voices demanded blood and Techno was more than glad to give them what they wanted. The moment when Phil lost his balance, Techno lunged forward and swung his sword across Phil's chest, leaving a deep cut.

_YES_

Techno felt his bloodlust rise when Phil staggered a step back and his hand on his chest, removing it and looking at the blood.

_BLOOD_

There was blood. Lots of it. Flowing on the pure white snow.

Phil looked Techno dead in the eyes and growled, "Oh, you son of a bitch. I only came to look for a friend of mine, but since you're unwilling to leave me be, I suppose I'll have to kill you as well."

It was with those words that the voices disappeared abruptly and Techno realized he was fighting an ally. Techno could vaguely remember anything about the fight. It only now hit him that Phil bleeding because of him. Techno had been the one who injured him. And yet it hadn't been him. That hadn't at all been what Techno would've done. Techno remembered making the movement but it had been like something else had pushed him to act so.

Techno wasn't ready when Phil had approached and shoved him back-first into the snow. Before Techno could get up, Phil was already hovering above him and holding the tip of his sword against Techno's neck.

"Wait, Phil! It's me, Techno!" he sputtered the words out of panic. "I know I look nothing like myself, but you need to believe me."

Phil tensed and looked Techno deep in the eye. There was recognition as he took a wobbly step back. "Techno?" Phil offered a hand to pull Techno up, which the latter accepted.

Phil looked at him in disbelief. Hel looked at him as if he refused to believe who was standing before him. Who he'd almost killed. Who'd almost killed him.

"Techno? Is that really you?"

Phil was looking at him as if he was a stranger. He'd asked if he really was Techno despite knowing him for the past two decades. Was he really beyond recognizable?

Between deep breaths, Techno got out, "Hey, Phil."

Phil rushed up to Techno and embraced him tightly. Techno couldn't have ever believed that he would find comfort in this. A moment later Phil backed away and groaned in pain. He was still bleeding.

"Phil! I'm so sorry about that. I don't know what overcame me." Techno panicked, looking at the wound. "Let's get you inside."

"I knew you were too stubborn to die like this," Phil said as they entered the old infirmary. Phil sat down on one of the beds and Techno went to get whatever he could find. When he returned, Phil said, "You look like hell."

"Well, I just got back," Techno joked.

Phil grabbed Techno's face and inspected from both sides more closely, especially the tusks, nose and ears. "What happened to you?"

"I think I'm balding and I'm not sure whether it's the stress or the genetic mutation."

Phil laughed at that. "Alright, but no, seriously, what's going on?"

"I made a fatal mistake wearing this cursed crown." Techno pointed at the golden crown.

Phil hummed in thought. "Can't you take it off?"

"I think it has a curse of binding on it."

"Just like mine," said Ranboo's voice. Techno hadn't even seen him standing at the doorway.

"Oh, hey, you're alive!" Techno cheered.

"Wait, Ranboo, you know anything about the crown?" Phil asked, looking at Ranboo's crown. Techno had noticed it before but had thought of it as a simple cosmetic accessory.

"That crown is not good," was all that Ranboo said.

"Is yours cursed as well?" Techno inquired but didn't receive an answer.

"Ranboo," Phil asked cautiously, "is your hybridization caused by the crown?"

"Wait," Ranboo said as if some sort of a realization had hit him. He opened his notebook and frantically checked every page of it.

While he was busy doing that, Techno asked Phil, "What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you. I found traces not usually left behind any other creature in the Nether and followed the trail to a bastion that had an activated portal, so I decided to look more into it and then I ended up finding this settlement. I thought it was abandoned, but those piglins appeared out of nowhere and attacked me."

The piglins had by now calmed down and gone back to minding their own business.

"Yeah, they don't like it if you don't have gold. You should probably carry some on you, else the piglins will attack you because they're greedy bastards." They both turned to look at Ranboo who by now had started making entries into his notebook instead of looking through his old ones. "I think that Ranboo is an exception, though."

"Ranboo, did you find anything?" Phil asked.

"No," Ranboo said without looking up from his book.

"It seems that Ranboo's crown has some other side effects besides the change of his physical appearance. Do you have anything else that's been going on?"

_NO_

"None that I can think of," Techno smiled nervously.

Phil stared into Techno's eyes judgmentally, making Techno confident that he'd seen through his lie. After so many years raising all kinds of children, there wasn't a single trick that would work on Phil.

 _HE KNOWS_ , the voices panicked as well.

Techno readied himself for the worst and was even about to spill out the truth, but then Phil said, "Travelling with him was a nightmare. He kept on teleporting and I'm not sure if he even realizes how lucky he is to be alive."

"Yeah," Techno agreed, trying to get the conversation elsewhere. "He tagged along with me once, but I kept losing him and then I just sort of gave up."

There was a long silence. So far, they'd only talked about Techno, but there was so much that he needed to know about the world other than the Nether or Antarctica.

"Phil, I need to know what happened to my farm."

Phil took a moment to think. "I'm pretty sure you're not going to like what I'm about to say, but the land was sold."

"To whom?"

"Squid."

Techno was overtaken by rage. "Squid?! They sold my potato farm to Squid?"

"I mean, besides you and Squid there isn't anyone else who would know how to farm potatoes."

"You don't understand, Phil. Squid doesn't know how to make efficient use out of the soil. He's going to ruin my potatoes!" Techno knew that he was getting worked up over something he'd never get back, so he took big breaths and asked instead, "Who got the money from selling the farm?"

"Will took it."

Techno could feel even more anger arise. "Why would Wilbur—" Techno stopped abruptly. "It's fine. It's all fine. It doesn't matter anymore. How's Wilbur doing, anyway?"

"The last I saw him, he was doing good."

"I hope that he'll be overthrown by some revolutionaries one day," Techno joked.

Ranboo was quiet for a moment before saying, "Well, then have I got some news for you."

"Heh?" Techno got out.

Both Techno and Phil stopped and turned to look at Ranboo who was just staring at them. They waited for him to say anything, to turn it into a joke, but his face already said everything.

"Wait are you serious?" Phil was astounded.

"It happened this morning."

"For how long have you known? How do you even know that?"

Ranboo got visibly nervous and began to ramble, "I saw it and I wrote it up and I was about to tell you but I forgot."

"You saw it? How could you possibly see it?"

"There are eyes everywhere and they're always looking," Ranboo said with a trembling voice. It was more nonsense that Phil didn't want to deal with, but Techno could relate to.

Techno still couldn't believe that Wilbur had been overthrown. "I mean, I was only joking when I said that, but he seriously got overthrown? By whom?"

"I think it was Eret," Ranboo wasn't confident

"Who?" It took Techno a while to remember who the named person was. "Oh, right, the former king." He hadn't thought for a moment that while he was here, changes would be happening on the other side of the Earth. He'd been too focused on his own survival to think about his former home.

Ranboo continued, "But I don't think he was the point man."

"Where's Will now? Is he alright?" Phil sounded worried.

"They tried to arrest him, but it seems that he got away," Ranboo explained.

"I need to go back," Phil had gotten serious. He stood up, although he was still in pain. Techno knew it wouldn't be a good idea to let Phil move so soon, but knowing him, there was no stopping him, so he stayed silent. When they had gone outside, Techno couldn't help but to notice how Phil looked at him apologetically. "I just found you and there's so much I've to tell you and so much to hear from you. I'm sorry for leaving so soon."

Techno put his hand on Phil's shoulder. "Go. He needs you more than I do."

Phil smiled at that and embraced Techno for goodbye. "I'll come by as soon as I can." He then turned around. "Ranboo, are you coming with me?"

Ranboo looked around. "No, I like it here, if that's okay with Techno."

"You're cool," Techno assured.

Phil opened his wings. "I'll see you in a while."

"Wait, Phil."

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell how long it's been? How long have I been in the Nether? The absence of day and night cycles has really been messing with me and the long day of Antarctica isn't much of a help either."

Phil was quiet for a long while like he was afraid to say it. "Eight months."

"It's been eight months?" Techno refused to believe. It hadn't felt like eight months. He was confident that it'd probably been like three or four. But eight?

"Are you planning on staying here?"

"It's better here than out there," Techno said truthfully.

Phil smiled. "Oh, I forgot about these." He took something from his pocket and handed it to Techno. It was his spectacles, now broken.

"Thanks," Techno wasn't sure what to say since they were no longer of use to him.

"Also, pink suits you."

Techno looked at his long pink hair, strand by strand falling out. He had no particular opinions about it himself.

"Well, then. See you soon!" Ranboo said.

"You too."

Techno and Ranboo watched Phil fly away into the distance. Before Techno could ask if Ranboo would like to stay in the castle with him, he'd already disappeared.

* * *

Ranboo was standing in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by snow and nothing else. How he'd gotten here, he had no clue, but he hated it whenever it happened.

The crown had given him the power of teleportation, which seemed awesome at first, but because of the crack in the crown, his abilities didn't function properly, which had turned out to be more of a nuisance. There were many other things that had come with the broken crown, such as the rude split personality of an enderman who occasionally caused him blackouts whenever he took control.

According to the latest entries in his memory book, he was in Antarctica and there was a settlement nearby, where also Techno and Phil supposedly were. He kept on walking in hopes of coming across anything.

"This is fine, because if I keep going in one direction, I'll soon end up somewhere, right?" he chuckled nervously.

He had to come to a stop because the ice had ended abruptly and the rest of everything was an ocean. He used to like water, he remembered that much, but after crowning himself as the enderman king, it hurt him. He'd forgotten the feeling of wetness and wondered what it would be like.

"This is bad..."

Knowing that this way was not it, he turned around, only to find someone waiting there, staring at him.

"Hello," Dream said.

"Hello," Ranboo answered hesitantly.

If there was something that Ranboo wouldn't forget, then it was this smile.

"How have you been?"

"I've been good, actually."

Ranboo wasn't sure from where he knew Dream, but their paths had crossed before and it hadn't been pleasant.

"It's good to hear that my friend had been doing great," Dream said in his usual manner.

Friend? They weren't friends.

"I don't think that we are friends."

"Oh, come on, Ranboo. Not again with this. Of course we're friends."

"No, I'm pretty sure we aren't," Ranboo said, unconfident in his own words.

Dream was getting closer. He chuckled, "You forgot again, didn't you? I can't believe you forgot who your own friends are."

Now Ranboo was unsure. He wasn't friends with Dream. At least he thought he wasn't. Had he perhaps really forgotten?

"Anyway, it seems that you are a bit lost."

"Yeah, I am," Ranboo admitted.

"Well," Dream stretched the first word, "I know the way back."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I could take you there if you want me to."

"That would be much appreciated."

He seemed like a nice person, willing to help him out. He couldn't be that bad, right?

"I do have a favor I need to ask," Dream continued.

"Alright?"

"It's about Techno. He's been... How do I put it? Getting more powerful. He's a danger to this world and we wouldn't want that now, do we?"

"I suppose we don't."

"So you agree that he should be kept under surveillance."

Ranboo thought about it but couldn't find a reason to agree with Dream. "Not necessarily. I mean, he's already cut off from the rest of the world, so he shouldn't be much of a harm to anyone."

"True, but do you really think that he's going to stay here for the rest of his days? Probably not. He's going to return at some point. And when he does, we don't want him to destroy everything that gets in his path."

"No, we don't."

"So this is why I need you. All you have to do is keep tabs on him and prevent him from leaving if he ever plans on it."

"That shouldn't be hard to do."

"Great! Then it's settled." Dream pointed behind Ranboo and added, "The village is that way."

Ranboo took a moment to remember what he'd been looking for in the first place. "Oh, right. Thanks!"

"No problem!"

With that, Dream was gone.


	10. Elytra and Departure to the South

Phil knew that traveling through the Overworld was the longer route home, but he didn't like flying in the Nether because there were many times when he'd almost crashed into a mountain of netherrack or whatever had got on his way. In the Overworld, the trip had taken a little longer than a week and by the time he'd arrived, he felt more exhausted than ever and his elytra was on the verge of breaking.

Once he arrived back home, he was greeted by a wave of children, half of them crying because they thought he was dead. He got a brief overview of the past week's events. Ranboo had been right. Eret had reclaimed his throne and Wilbur was on the run. He was wanted, dead or alive. Phil tried looking for him, but to no avail because he had no clue where the man could be hiding. Phil was confident that Wilbur knew what he was doing, so he wasn't going to publicly go and look for a man who was trying to lay low.

Phil hadn't wasted a moment to get his elytra fixed. He'd spent half the trip worrying about his wound and the second half about a possible malfunction of the elytra and falling to his death. Usually, he would do the fixing himself, but this time the mechanical wings were so destroyed that he was left with no other choice but to ask someone more experienced to help.

That's how he'd ended up at Fundy's. Fundy looked scared when Phil had entered the shop and set his wings on the table, asking for his help to fix it. At first, Fundy tried to talk his way out of it because the technology was foreign to him, but Phil had no one else to turn to. Fundy was his only hope, so the young man promised to at least give it try.

For some reason, Tubbo had also insisted on coming along. The kid had a fascination with mechanics and automated engines. He was unusually brighter compared to the other children his age. Phil could already picture Tubbo assisting him with the upcoming projects.

He watched as the child tried to reach and grab the wrench that was on the table, but he was still too short for that.

"No, no, don't touch that," Fundy picked up and put it further away just as Phil was sure that Tubbo would get it.

"I want it," Tubbo said with teary eyes, which Phil knew he faked. "Please."

Panic overtook Fundy's face as he watched Tubbo being on the verge of crying and handed him the wrench. "Alright! Alright! Take it! Just please don't cry." Tubbo beamed when he got the tool, making the sleeves of his sweater oily. "Sorry, Phil, but he was about to cry."

Phil cackled a laugh and said, "Don't worry, it's fine, but the look on your face—" Phil had to stop because of his laughter. "You look as if you're about to cry yourself."

"Shut up." Fundy turned back to the mechanical wings. "Alright, so far I've just made it a little more heat-resistant and added some fans to keep it from overheating. You also mentioned that you weren't able to accelerate?"

"Yes."

Fundy turned to look at the elytra for a moment before he continued, "Well, you see, the thing is... It's busted."

"Busted?" Phil sat up. "The accelerator?"

"Yep."

Phil stood up and walked to inspect the wings. "How?"

Fundy took off his goggles and showed Phil the machine under a plate of metallic feathers. "Over-heating, most likely. That solves your problem why you gained little to no speed while descending."

Tubbo had come between them and as much as he could peek over the table's edge, he eyed the wings and inquired, "Can you fix it?"

Fundy was silent for a moment, thinking hard until he admitted, "I've never worked on anything like this, but I guess I could figure something out if I have some more time to get a closer look at it. I mean, this thing looks like it's from the future. Where'd you get this? I find it hard to believe that you made it yourself."

Before Phil could answer, the door opened and Niki walked in.

"Niki!" Tubbo went and hugged the woman.

"Hello!" Niki's gentle voice greeted. "Sorry for coming so unexpectedly."

"It's alright," Fundy's voice almost cracked. "What are you doing here?"

Niki noticed Phil standing next to Fundy and looked completely astonished. "Phil? You're back! Everyone was worried because you disappeared. I'm glad to see that you're alive."

"Thanks, Niki. It's good to be back."

"So, how did your search go?"

"I found Techno."

From her face, it was obvious that it was an answer which she hadn't at all expected. She sat on a stool not too far from her and set her basket down. "You did?" Phil simply nodded and Niki noticed that something was wrong. "Then why do you look so down? Isn't this what you've wanted for the past months?"

"It didn't feel like he was the same person that I've known and I can't help but blame myself for his change of heart. If I'd kept my mouth shut about that night of the breaking and entering, he would probably still be the potato farmer who'd abandoned violence, but now that he's been to the Nether, violence has been his only option to survive. I thought that I was doing the right thing, but now it feels like a mistake. It's not that I have anything against the new Techno, he's still the boy who I raised, but I led him to a more violent way of life and I'm not so sure if it's possible for him to come back from that."

"I'm sure that he's still the sweet person he's always been," Niki consoled.

"What's in the basket?" Tubbo asked as he peeked under the blanket.

"Oh, I baked some cake, but the person to whom I usually give it hasn't been showing up for quite a while now, so I've got nothing to do with these and thought that maybe I should share with the neighborhood."

"That's nice of you," Phil said.

"You can take some with you too if you want, for the kids. I'm sure they'll like them," she said as she handed one of the slices to Tubbo. "So, what are you working on?" Niki asked, looking at the elytra.

Fundy took off his leather gloves and also turned to look at the machine. "We're trying to fix Phil's wings."

"I've always wondered how these work. The mechanism looks complicated."

Out of nowhere, Wilbur came running into the workshop, nearly sending the door off its hinges.

"Hey! I just fixed that door." Fundy was irritated.

It was alien to see Wilbur without his usual uniform. Instead, he wore a tattered coat and the old beanie he'd always worn when he was younger. Even his hair looked like it hadn't been taken care of, covering half of his face.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Phil got out.

Wilbur looked around, panting. Had he been running? "There you are, Phil. I've been looking for you everywhere the moment I heard you're back. I need you to come with me. Now. We need to talk."

Phil followed him out, asking Niki and Fundy to take care of Tubbo for a while.

They went to an alley and Wilbur began pacing back and forth, his hand going through his hair. "This is bad."

"What've you done?"

"This is really bad, Phil."

"What did you do?"

Wilbur stopped in his tracks, looked Phil deep in the eye and said, "They took over the government."

Phil groaned and said, "I warned you over and over again about Eret. He was the king from whom you took the power for God's sake! What did you expect to happen?!"

"I didn't think he'd actually get someone to side with him."

Phil wanted to punch him so hard, but he retreated a step, trying to calm down. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, Phil." Wilbur's voice was shaky. He sat down on one of the crates and let his face fall into his palms. "I really don't know."

Phil debated for a while whether to say it or not because he wasn't sure whether it was the right topic to bring up. In the end, he decided to say it. "You should get Techno to help you."

Wilbur looked up at him. "Techno? He's probably dead."

"I found him. He's alive and well, although changed."

Wilbur took a moment to process this. "Techno's alive?" Phil nodded. Wilbur let out a sigh like he was relieved, which came as a surprise to Phil. "He'd never help me. Not after the coup d'état and especially not after the exile."

Phil sat down next to him. "It's always been difficult with you two. You both want freedom, but your ways of achieving it contradict each other. You're a negotiator, he's a fighter. You want to create a government, he wants them in ruins."

"But his solutions would bring chaos."

"Not necessarily. When—if—you ever get to see him again, you two should talk out your differences. I'm not suggesting you turn into anarchy, but just try to understand his point of view and try to explain to him yours." Wilbur was quiet, his head leaning on Phil's shoulder. "Just talk to him. You have the same goals. Taking down the government is all he's ever wanted."

Wilbur chuckled. "And what if I create another regime?"

"Then you're going to have to deal with his wrath." Phil was now also laughing.

"So what do I do? Just go to the Nether and pardon him?"

"I don't think your pardoning would do much since he's already left the Nether." Wilbur looked at Phil in confusion, not being able to mutter a single word. "His portal ended up linking to Antarctica."

"Antarctica? He's that far away?"

Before Phil was able to give an answer, a small figure, Tommy, rushed into the alley and stopped the moment he saw them. He was panting heavily, holding a stack of food.

"Phil! Oh, thank God! I need your help. I need to get out of here," Tommy rambled.

"What are you doing with all of that food?" Phil demanded.

"Wait, did you steal it?" Wilbur was even angrier. "I gave you money to buy me food and you've been stealing it!"

Tommy's face turned sour. "What? I don't see what's the big deal. Why pay when you can get it for free?"

"That's not how the economy works!" Wilbur was exasperated.

"What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be hiding?"

"I needed to talk to Phil."

"Well, I suggest you get out of here because the guards are after me," Tommy looked behind and now Phil could hear the rushing steps getting closer.

"Tommy, you idiot!" Phil scolded and turned to Wilbur. "Get out of here."

"Meet me in the harbor at dawn," Wilbur said briefly and disappeared into the shadows. It seems that he had already made his choice, which made Phil smile.

The moment was ruined when Tommy whined, "Phil, I need you to fly me away."

Phil looked at the corner, seeing two figures appear. "Sorry, Tommy, but I don't have my elytra on. You're going to have to face the consequences."

"That's what got Techno exiled!"

"Don't you dare pull that card on me or else I'll have to get the belt," Phil's voice took a sudden turn and Tommy no longer had the courage to argue back.

The guards, Bad and Skeppy, came and the conversation went the way it always went with them. While Phil and Bad were composed and calmly talked the things over, Tommy and Skeppy were childishly screaming at each other. Phil promised that everything will be paid back with money earned by Tommy, paying them in advance from his own pocket, just to get this over with.

* * *

"I want to go too!" Tommy didn't stop with his protest.

"This isn't a vacation," Wilbur argued back.

"I don't care. I want to go." Tommy refused to give up.

"Shut up, Tommy," Wilbur said, clearly irritated by his presence, like always.

Tubbo, who'd been silently standing behind his friend, tugged Tommy by his sleeve. "I don't want you to go."

"You would come with me."

"But I don't want to go anywhere."

"Tommy," Phil repeated himself for the last time, "now's not the best time to wander around the world. When all of this is over, I promise you that we'll travel the world together. All of us."

"Don't speak for me." Wilbur was displeased with the idea.

Phil looked at his oldest and asked for the umpteenth time, "You sure you'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine," Wilbur assured. "I'll be gone for a couple of months, so don't expect me to return soon."

"If you want, I can come with you."

"No, Phil." Wilbur looked him in the eye. "You were away long enough. Your wife and children need you to stay by their side. And as for Techno, I'm the only one to blame and I can't ask you to convince him to help me. This is all on me."

Phil had to admit that Wilbur was right and was glad that he'd come back to his senses, even if it was just by a little. The sudden gain of enormous power had gotten to his head that it had changed Wilbur beyond recognition.

He embraced Wilbur, wished him a safe trip, watched the young man board the ship and sail off to the horizon. He could only hope that Techno wouldn't kill him on first sight and would be able to bring himself to forgive.

Once the ship was gone, he turned to head home with the kids and realized that Tommy was nowhere to be seen. It was only Tubbo.

"I miss him already," Tubbo sounded down.

"Tubbo, where's Tommy?"

"He went on the ship."

"He what?!" Phil's voice bellowed and within a moment he'd spread his wings and taken off towards. Within seconds he'd caught up with the ship and landed with a thump, sending the ship shaking slightly from side to side.

Wilbur had already noticed him and walked up to him to say something, but Phil walked past him and began searching the ship.

"Where is that fucking child?!" Phil demanded, although he knew that Wilbur had no idea what was going on.

"Phil? Everything alright?" Wilbur followed him, trying to get an answer out.

Phil stopped in front of a crate and instinctively knew that this was where Tommy would most likely hide. He removed the lid, revealing the kid sitting amid the apples, eating one. There was a long silence, Tommy's panicked expression, Phil's furious glare and Wilbur's utter confusion.

Tommy was the first to speak with a nervous laugh. "Hey, Phil."

"You bloody raccoon!" Wilbur yelled.

"You've got some explaining to do," Phil got right to the point.

"You've been eating our apples!" Wilbur's priorities were in an entirely different order. "And you've eaten so many! It hasn't even been half an hour."

Tommy climbed out of the crate and stretched. "I was hoping that it would take you longer to notice my absence," he admitted truthfully.

Phil's facepalmed, unable to process this. "Please don't tell me that you were planning on getting yourself shipped to Antarctica."

"And what if I was?" Tommy yelled back in his usual manner. "What are you going to do? You can't stop me from going anywhere I want..." he continued rambling too fast for Phil to make out half of the words.

Phil turned to Wilbur. "I'm sorry about that. I'll take him back."

"No, Phil, you can't!" Tommy protested. "I don't want to go back! I want to go on an adventure with Wilbur."

That caught Wilbur's attention immediately. "Oh, no, I'm not going to spend a minute longer with the child than I have to."

"Don't call me a child! I'm a big man!"

Phil was deep in thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Tommy, do you really want to go?"

"Phil?" Wilbur was confused.

"Yes!" Tommy was confident.

Phil gave in. "Fine, you can go."

"What?!" Wilbur yelled.

"Really? Yes! Wilbur, we're going to have so much fun!"

"Phil, you can't do this to me. You know I hate that gremlin child," Wilbur tried to change Phil's mind, but it was too late. His elytra was already open.

"Have a nice trip!" he said and took off, leaving the ship to shake a little.

Wilbur stared into the now-empty sky in utter disbelief.

"I guess it's just you and me now," Tommy cheered. "How long will this trip be anyway? One month? Two months? We also have to consider that we need to come back as well, so like four or five months at best, right?"

Wilbur took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs, "For fuck's sake!"

Tommy laughed and Phil's cackling could also be heard from the distance.

"You alright, Will?" Tommy asked, still laughing, but Wilbur ignored him and walked away, Tommy following right after him. "Will? Wilbur? Answer me, Will!"


	11. Intruders

Although there were no other humans in Antarctica and neither the piglins nor the voices were the best company, Techno had ancient documents to keep him busy. Most of the papers were unintelligible, but they were the history of the previous settlers and Techno had taken the task upon himself to transcribe them as much as possible, just so the legacy wouldn't vanish. It seemed like a waste of time, but then again, he had nothing better to do to keep himself sane.

There was knocking on his door and he allowed the knocker to enter. When the door opened, Techno finished the paper he was currently working on and looked up. He'd expected it to be Ranboo, but it'd been the piglins that had come to him. This was a first. At least they'd learned how to knock and Techno started to believe that they were slowly beginning to understand his language as well.

"What?" he asked the two piglins, although realizing a moment later, that he wouldn't understand a thing they would say.

They left the room and then looked at Techno, making the latter realize that he was expected to follow them, so that's exactly what he did. Wherever they were taking him, Techno had no idea what to expect. He couldn't ask them either and would just have to see it for himself once they would arrive at their destination.

While walking to wherever he was being led to, he heard a noise not too far away in the hallway and it seemed that both of the piglins had also noticed because they all turned around to look.

_INTRUDER_

Techno looked around the long hallway, but there was no one else in sight. The only thing that was moving was one of the curtains which covered the tall windows. It was the only one that was gradually falling back in place as if someone had just pushed it aside. Steadily, he made his way towards the curtains, the piglins right behind him. He carefully pointed his sword to the side of the curtain and pulled it away, expecting to see someone hiding there, but there was no one.

_HOW_

_WHERE DID THEY GO_

Techno could've sworn that he heard something ruffle these curtains. Escaping through the windows was impossible since they were firmly shut. Jumping from this floor wouldn't have been a problem because the snow would've broken the fall, but then there would've been any signs of anyone falling there and walking away.

One of the piglins oinked behind him and Techno decided to leave it. The piglins led him deeper underground, one of the parts of this castle which he hadn't explored yet. It was colder down here than it was outside. There were empty cells, some of them containing the remnants of what once used to be humans. The place was filled with spiderwebs and the air was stuffy, making it really difficult to breathe.

For the most part, Techno was sure that the piglins had no bad intentions with him, but he still couldn't help but remain on guard. His hand was tightly holding on to the handle of his sheathed sword, ready to pull it out the moment when anything would go amiss.

The piglins stopped in front of one of the cells, looked into the cell and stepped away for Techno to get closer. At first, it was difficult to make out anything because of the dim lighting. When his eyes adjusted, he noticed that inside was a man, sitting against the wall. It took Techno a moment to make out the features, because the prisoner had his head hanging down, his curly hair covering most of his face.

_TRAITOR_

_IT'S THE TRAITOR_

Techno's suspicions of the person's identity came true when the man looked up, stared at Techno and smiled. Wilbur looked so different and not only because of the ragged coat and his disheveled hair, but it was his face that made him look broken. With his empty eyes and the way how the tips of his mouth were wider apart than Techno had ever seen them be, he looked like a madman.

"I suppose you're the king here," Wilbur said with a chuckle, tilting his head to have a better look at the hybrid on the other side of the rusty bars.

"That I am," confirmed Techno and after hearing his voice, Wilbur squinted in confusion, then his eyes enlarging.

"Wait..." He clearly had difficulty putting together the voice and the face. "Techno?"

"Hello, Wilbur."

"What... What happened to you?" Wilbur stood up and had to lean against the wall to stay up. He stared at him without blinking once. "Phil did tell me that you've changed, but..." He was unable to finish his sentence. His face had gone completely pale.

"A lot can happen in hell." At that, Wilbur stayed silent.

Techno wasn't happy to see him, but then again it was nice to have the first eventful day since Phil visited a couple of months ago. To be honest, Techno was absolutely curious about what was going on on the other side of the ocean and couldn't help but wonder how much the world had changed during the ten months of his exile.

Looking back to Wilbur, Techno wondered how he'd gotten here. He was the type to prefer traditional transportation, so the Nether wasn't an option.

"How did you get here?" Techno asked.

"We traveled by ship."

We? So he wasn't alone.

"Where's Phil?"

"He stayed behind."

Techno was confused. "Then who did you come with?"

"Tommy," Wilbur didn't sound at all happy.

"Why would you bring him along?" Techno couldn't understand how having that kid along was beneficial.

"I didn't! The idiot smuggled himself on board."

"And where is he now?"

"I don't know. Wandering around the settlement, most likely. He hasn't been brought down here yet."

Techno would have to deal with that later, to make sure that Tommy wouldn't cause any havoc.

"Is there a reason why you're here?" Techno changed the subject. "In Antarctica. Behind the bars under my home."

Wilbur avoided eye contact and the question entirely by looking at the ground. Despite that, Techno could assume what was going on. He was no longer proudly wearing his blue uniform and everything about him screamed fugitive.

"I'm not going to waste my time on you if you're not going to talk." Techno turned to leave and was half-way through the corridor when there was a sound of bars rattling.

"Wait, Techno! There's something I need to tell you," Wilbur shouted. Techno stood still, considering whether to go back and hear him out or let him feel what it felt like to be trapped. "Please."

_LEAVE_ , said some of the voices, _HE HAD IT COMING_

_HEAR HIM OUT_ , objected the rest.

No matter how much Techno hated himself for it, he turned back and waited for Wilbur to explain himself. Wilbur stood there, holding onto the bars. He took a few deep breaths, looked Techno into his eyes and said in a whimpering whisper, "I'm sorry. I am so sorry for what I've done to you."

Techno could feel the fury rise. "Is the only reason you came here to torment me? How much more miserable do you need me to be to be satisfied? Can't any of you just leave me at peace? Apologies won't turn me back from _this_."

"I know they won't, but I wish they did. I was wrong and I now know it. I let the power get the best of me and turn me into a person both you and I hated the most. I believed that I was saving everyone—I genuinely did—, but I can now see how wrong I was. You're probably not going to forgive me, but I just needed you to know. You may even leave me here to rot if you must, but all I ask is your understanding." Techno raised his eyebrow in doubt. "I just wanted the best for everyone. I wanted everyone to be free from that monarch's reign."

"And by becoming a tyrant you thought you were doing the people a favor?"

"At least it's better than your solution of removing the government entirely."

"With anarchy, people can truly be free."

"Anarchy is just chaos in fancy wording."

That angered Techno even further. "Anarchy doesn't mean chaos. It means life without laws," he explained. "In anarchy, there is no effective government. It's a common misconception that people often make. Yes, I agree that a poorly planned anarchy is what leads to chaos, but if people know how to follow it, then it would work."

"Look, I'll pardon you from all of your—"

"I don't need your pardoning."

"All I want is to fight beside you one last time to make my wrongdoings right." Wilbur sounded exasperated and desperate at the same time. "Eret got help from outside. I've seen what Dream does to the citizens and I can't let that stand."

Dream? The name definitely rang a bell. It was an ancient deity or so had Techno read while transcribing the books. Sapnap had also mentioned one of his friends being a god. There had to be a connection because there was no way it was a mere coincidence of names.

"You're talking about the cloaked guys?" Techno crossed his arms.

Wilbur's eyes widened with shock. "How'd you know?"

"You have no idea what kind of a pain in the neck they've been."

Wilbur smiled at that. "See, we already share the mutual hatred towards Dream. Doesn't that make us allies?"

Techno hummed. "Although they have been getting in my way, it's been good to have some company after a while, even when they're a little violent." Techno realized that they were getting off-topic. "Look, Wilbur, I like the way my life is now. Everything's peaceful and I don't need to worry about a thing. Give me one reason why I should fight beside you and I might consider it. _Might_." Techno couldn't emphasize the last word enough.

"Well," Wilbur thought for a second, "one of them was your lawyer that didn't show up to your trial."

"I don't even have a clue who you're talking about." Techno remembered something vaguely, but couldn't care any less.

"Look, Techno, with your help, we could make this all right."

"And when we take over, what then? You create another government?"

Wilbur looked away to avoid eye contact. "That's the part that I was hoping to negotiate."

Techno took a moment to himself to think this through. He didn't need to do this. He had no obligations towards the nation he once called home. This was all on Wilbur and Techno knew that risking his life for it wasn't worth it.

"There are still some things I need to look into; we'll talk more about this later," Techno said and left the prison without waiting for Wilbur's answer. He shouldn't rush with his decision. The last time he had, it didn't end well for him. He'd gotten away with a warning, but not for long. The drawbacks outweighed the benefits. Well, there are no benefits that he could even come up with; there were only detriments.

_ACCEPT HIS OFFER_ , the voices insisted.

"Why?" Techno couldn't understand.

_FOR THE BLOOD_

"Why do you keep demanding blood? I need a valid reason to help him and bloodlust isn't one of them."

Techno was getting tired of the voices; they were only getting louder and more insistent, especially ever since the fight with Sapnap. He needed to find a way to get rid of them and he needed to find it fast.

_INTRUDER_

"Again?" Techno was mad. "I'm too tired to deal with this."

Techno had finally made it to the door of his room after this exhausting day and all he wanted to do was to get some good sleep. Unfortunately, that still had to wait because there were other matters that needed to be taken care of.

_INTRUDER_

"It's just Ranboo," Techno argued.

_NO_

_IT'S NOT RANBOO_

"Then who is it?"

Upon entering his bedroom, there was a familiar young boy standing at the furthest end of the room, holding a stack of golden apples and dropping them one after another on the floor. They both stared at each other until the petty street thief broke the silence.

"How do?" he asked with his mouth full. Techno was astounded by how casually it came from Tommy's mouth.

"What are you doing in my castle?"

"Well..." Tommy looked up at the ceiling as if looking for an answer from there, swallowed the piece of apple in his mouth and never finished his sentence.

Techno looked at the piglins who were supposed to keep guard in front of his chambers. "Did you know he was in here?"

One of the piglins shook their head and the other shrugged their shoulders.

"How did he get in?" Techno was concerned.

On cue, Tommy went to the open secret doorway that Techno had no idea even existed. He casually went in, pulled a lever and the wall closed itself in. It left like Tommy hadn't been in Techno's room in the first place and like this conversation had never happened.

"I didn't even know that there were secret passageways here. Did any of you guys know?"

The piglins were staring at the wall blankly in utter confusion. Techno then noticed the chests that had been left open.

"Wait, were those my golden apples?!" He ran to the closed wall and tried to figure out a way through, but effortlessly. No matter, he'll figure that out later. Right now, there were other things that needed looking into.

He went to his cabinet and began to skim through the bookshelf which occupied the whole wall. He roughly knew where the book of ancient gods had been. He picked out a few and sat behind his desk, opening the first one. He skimmed it through but didn't recognize this as the book of mythology he was searching for. He looked through many books, piling them up on his desk and on the ground. The books he'd picked initially weren't enough, so he had to go and take more books from the shelves.

Once in every while, he found paragraphs mentioning Dream, but only briefly. After hours of research, he found the book and the page which was intelligible compared to the others, probably because the book was way older than the rest. He tried to put the pieces from different documents together. Most of the stories upheld each other, but then again there were some stories that contradicted. These had been written during different eras, so it only made sense why they differed.

So far, Techno had learned that Dream was the creator of this world. He was also the one who led the first civilizations to explore other dimensions. As for his portrayal, there were various solutions that artists had come up with, the most popular of them being a white blob with a simplistic smiling face. It seems that the knowledge of such god had vanished with the last civilizations, whose technology had been way beyond their current inventions. They'd traveled to the southernmost point to discover secrets of another dimension and the entries stopped there.

Techno leaned back in his chair to let his mind rest from all of this info dump. He looked at the clock on the wall and he hadn't realized how late it'd gotten. Well, he'd already found what he needed, so it was a good place to call it a day.


End file.
